Shanghai police have arrested 57 Taiwanese over a scam that tricked people into paying "taxes" in advance for nonexistent prizes, newspapers reported yesterday.
The suspects, 48 men and nine women, were lured to Shanghai with promises of legal jobs -- but the fraud organizers seized their passports and forced them to work for the scam, the Shanghai Daily said.
The fraud involved calling people in Taiwan on the pretext of conducting surveys, then telling them they'd get prizes if they deposited a 20 percent "tax" in a bank account, the Shanghai Star newspaper said.
The reports didn't say whether the suspects were in detention or had been formally charged, and police spokesmen weren't immediately available for comment.
Wu Yuehong, a spokesman for the Shanghai prosecutor's office, said that he wasn't aware of the case.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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