Authorities in New Taipei City yesterday detained about 20 suspects and witnesses for questioning in connection with an alleged investment scam said to involve about a dozen retired and active-service police officers.
Officials at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office coordinated units from the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau (MJIB) and the Taipei Police Department to mount raids and gather evidence at eight locations as part of a judicial probe into a ring said to be making illegal profits by promoting shares in China’s Macau Galaxy (澳門銀河娛樂度假城), a luxury casino with a hotel and resort in the former Portuguese colony.
New Taipei City prosecutor Lu Chun-chieh (呂俊杰) said that a preliminary investigation indicated the ring had earned illicit profits of NT$4.6 billion (US$141.05 million) since August 2012 from at least 70 victims, with Hsu Cheng-lun (徐正倫) suspected of masterminding the operation.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Investigators alleged that Hsu lured unsuspecting investors by promising annual returns of between 20 and 60 percent, with investors to be paid in monthly installments, and the capital investment to be returned on maturity.
Investigators said that the operation worked as a pyramid scheme, as Hsu paid out earnings on investments in the initial stages, which then attracted more people by word of mouth and encouraged them to invest.
Investigators said that the alleged scam came to light when investors did not receive any returns on their investments for some time.
A retired police officer, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and detective Pan Sheng-ta (潘昇達), who had both served in Taipei police precincts, were among the people taken in for questioning.
It is alleged that they invested NT$10 million in the scheme, then recruited fellow police officers.
Investigators said they are trying to clarify the roles played by Tsai and Pan, adding that possibly another dozen police officers either worked for Hsu or were taken in by the scheme.
Hsu is expected to return from Macau today and officials said they would detain him for questioning upon his arrival.
Suspects and witnesses were still being questioned by New Taipei City prosecutors at press time last night.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique