The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted the owner of a Taipei-based company and two accountants after an investigation implicated them in illegal currency trading, mainly catering to local firms transferring money to China and other countries.
A woman surnamed Chen (陳) and her company’s two accountants, surnamed Lin (林) and Peng (彭), since January 2009 used one of Chen’s firms, Air Escort Express Co (震捷國際物流), to conduct underground currency trading, prosecutors said.
Chen later registered two other companies, Kai Hsin Trade Co (凱新貿易) and De Hsin Trade Co (德新貿易), which were reportedly also used for black market currency trading and money transfers — totaling NT$17.9 billion (US$575.3 million at the current exchange rate) in transfers, they said.
The trio were charged with contravening Article 29 of the Banking Act (銀行法), which prohibits any entity other than a bank from handling domestic or foreign remittances, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said the trio mainly provided illicit currency trading and overseas transfer services for Taiwanese firms, primarily exchanging New Taiwan dollars for Chinese yuan and US dollars, but also handled transactions in euros and Hong Kong dollars.
Investigators said the trio also broke the law by lending out their personal bank accounts and those of their relatives to Taiwanese clients to conduct underground money transfers, they said.
Chen allegedly handled a total of about NT$17.2 billion in money transfers from 2009 to February last year, when investigators began scrutinizing her and she resigned from Air Escort Express.
She made about NT$82.79 million over 10 years from commissions and differences between the official and black market currency exchange rates, prosecutors said.
After Chen terminated her purported involvement, Lin and Peng allegedly took over from March to July last year, when they were shut down by authorities.
In that four-month period, the two allegedly handled a total of about NT$695 million in illegal money transfers, from which they made about NT$3.59 million in profit, the prosecutors said.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
RSS