Eight people suspected of involvement in a cross-border telecommunications fraud operation have been arrested in police raids of three call centers in Taichung, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said on Monday.
The bureau said that it received a report about two months ago about alleged cross-border telecom fraud call centers established by an organization led by a 39-year-old man surnamed Chen (陳).
The organization was allegedly defrauding people in China by having callers pose as public security officials to persuade them to part with their money, it said.
The bureau, in conjunction with police in New Taipei City and Taichung, formed a task force to investigate, it added.
Investigators found that Chen had since February rented several apartments in the city as accommodation for the organization’s members, the bureau said.
After several days of surveillance, police raided three locations in the city, arresting the eight suspects, it said.
Mobile phones, notebook computers, computer network cards and cash were also seized in the raids, it added.
Hundreds of people are believed to have fallen victim to the fraudsters, who have reaped nearly NT$10 million (US$327,794) in illegal gains, initial police estimates showed.
After preliminary questioning, six of the suspects were detained and held incommunicado, while the other two were released on bail, the bureau said.
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