Representative to Malaysia James Chang (章計平) said late on Sunday that Malaysia would deport the remaining 32 Taiwanese fraud suspects arrested in Malaysia to Taiwan after completing the necessary procedures.
Following Taiwan’s demand that all of the suspects be sent back to their homeland for investigation, Malaysia is prepared to repatriate them once the two nations complete certain arrangements, Chang said.
It is not yet known when exactly the 32 suspects, the second batch detained in Malaysia since last month, will be sent back to Taiwan, he said.
On Friday, 20 Taiwanese nationals arrested in Malaysia for alleged telecommunication fraud were flown back to Taiwan from Kuala Lumpur.
On arrival in Taiwan, the 20 suspects were allowed to go free after their identities were verified by law enforcement officials at the airport.
Taiwanese authorities said they lack concrete evidence that the 20 people engaged in illegal activities overseas.
Chinese authorities have been trying to have the suspects deported to China, saying that most of the fraud victims were Chinese.
The issue fueled a controversy between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, which started last week after Kenya deported 45 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China, the nation that was said to be the main target of the alleged sc
ams.
Chang said Taiwan would investigate the allegations and ask Chinese authorities to provide evidence to help with the investigation based on a cross-strait agreement on joint crime-fighting and mutual judicial assistance.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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