Taipei police yesterday said they arrested a man suspected of fraudulently claiming lost mobile phones and computers at the Taipei MRT Lost and Found Center.
The 47-year-old man, surnamed Wu (吳), since December last year several times told MRT staff that he lost personal belongings on the metro, police said.
Wu has since claimed 15 items, including five mobile phones, two iPads and three bottles of Kaoliang liquor, as well as a necklace, cigarette cartons and a fishing rod, at an estimated worth of NT$100,000, Taipei City Zhongzheng First Precinct investigation section deputy head Yeh Shuo-chun (葉碩竣) said.
MRT staff became aware of the claims after a woman who had lost her mobile phone came to the center and it was discovered that it had already been claimed, Yeh said.
An investigation by MRT staff showed that Wu claimed four mobile phones on a single day in January, when he visited four different MRT stations and filed reports that he had lost phones on the train.
The case was transferred to the police, who approached Wu for questioning.
Wu was quoted by police as saying that he has been unemployed and depressed, and sold the items for money.
The center publishes a list with descriptions of found items and it is easy to claim mobile phones, as staff only asked simple questions, and he was only asked to show his personal ID card and provide a signature, Wu was quoted as saying.
MRT officials said that they would be more careful and would demand more specific descriptions of lost items from claimants.
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