Prosecutors yesterday continued questioning three suspected members of a US dollar forgery ring to determine who was its leader, as investigators said the counterfeit bills likely came from China.
Wu Chun-hsien (吳俊賢), Chang Ai-li (張愛莉) and Pan Liang-nan (潘良男) were yesterday summoned for questioning at the Taipei District Court. They were among 12 suspects detained incommunicado pending the conclusion of the investigation.
The ring managed to exchange US$2 million in counterfeit US$100 banknotes at two Mega International Commercial Bank branches in Taipei prior to the Lunar New Year holiday last month, police said.
More details emerged about the case in recent days, with investigators suspecting the fake banknotes originated in China.
Investigators found that the one of the suspects, Hung Tu-chang (洪篤昌), a retired military police officer from Kinmen, had made friends in political and business circles in Taiwan and China, and had made numerous visits to China in recent years.
Travel records revealed that Hung frequently traveled via the three small links from Kinmen to Xiamen in China’s Fujian Province, investigators said.
When the case came to light last week, authorities suspected the fake banknotes were likely produced in China or North Korea by experienced counterfeiters employing sophisticated printing technology.
The 12 suspects were detained by prosecutors on charges of forgery, money laundering and fraud, with US authorities reportedly expressing concern.
A number of suspects allegedly said during questioning that Hung was the key figure in the supply of the bogus money.
Hung is suspected of having links with Chinese counterfeiters and using his political connections to bring the counterfeit money to Taiwan, investigators said.
Authorities are also trying to determine how the fake banknotes managed to fool counterfeit detection machines used by the bank, and whether bank employees colluded in the scheme, as some procedures were not followed properly.
As only NT$10 million (US$303,785) were recovered, authorities are trying to trace the remainder of the money, but said most of it had likely already been laundered and sent abroad.
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