Interpol non-membership causing fugitive problems

As Taiwan is not a member of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), the worldwide body established to assist international criminal police cooperation, the nation can only rely on bilateral judicial cooperation pacts for apprehending criminals who have fled the country.

An Interpol spokesman said during a telephone interview that the fact that Taiwan cannot seek Interpol assistance to extradite fugitive Rebar Asia Pacific Group founder Wang You-theng (王又曾) from overseas epitomizes the difficulties the nation faces in trying to apprehend criminals on the run.

member countries

Interpol is the world's third-largest international organization, after the UN and Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), with 186 member countries and an annual budget of about US$41.7 million.

The work of the organization, based in Lyon, France, focuses primarily on public safety, terrorism, organized crime, war crimes, illicit drug production, drug trafficking, weapon smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering, child pornography, white-collar crime, high-tech crime and corruption.

Wang, who was taken into custody by US immigration authorities at the beginning of the month for traveling without valid travel documents, was put on Taiwan's list of most wanted fugitives after fleeing the country with his wife Wang Chin She-ying (王金世英) last month.

wanted

Wang is wanted by authorities here for his suspected involvement in a series of crimes, including forgery, fraud, insider trading and the embezzlement of corporate funds from his group.

The US government has been asked by Taiwanese law enforcement authorities to help extradite the Wangs as the two countries maintain a judicial cooperation pact.

Fifty-one people related to the Rebar scandal have been questioned by police, 13 of whom have been detained. There are 91 people connected to the case who are barred from leaving the country.