Police in Taoyuan on Thursday evening arrested four people in connection with an alleged illegal remittance ring.
The suspects, who face charges of breaching the Banking Act (銀行法), had allegedly conducted NT$7 billion (US$231.7 million at the current exchange rate) in transactions over the past six years, transferring money to other countries for migrant workers, prosecutors said yesterday.
With his son, 33, and two other men, surnamed Chen (陳), 51, and Chiu (邱), 39, the alleged leader, surnamed Lee (李), 54, operated the underground banks through stores that sell food, clothing and grocery items to migrant workers, prosecutors said.
Photo courtesy of Jhongli Police Station via CNA
Taoyuan’s Jhongli Police Precinct raided three stores on Thursday, seizing NT$300,000, along with receipts for wiring money to overseas destinations, a ledger book and other documents, police said.
Investigators said that Lee employed people from Southeast Asian countries at the stores, as they could communicate with migrant workers in providing the money remittance service.
Lee’s operations had attracted clients by offering lower fees than licensed banks, with guarantees of prompt same-day remittance, police said, adding that the operation also offered a point system for transactions that could be exchanged for food, clothing and groceries at the stores.
For remittance of larger sums, Lee allegedly charged NT$300 less than banks, while he charged between NT$200 and NT$300 per transaction, police said.
Lee’s ring had reportedly made about NT$150 million in overseas remittances each month, police said, adding that they found a transaction of NT$2 million on the ledger.
“We urge migrant workers not to use these underground banks, for the sake of saving some money. It is highly risky to make such illegal money remittance overseas by unregulated operators, because they can lose all their money when going through shady dealers,” the Jhongli Police Precinct said.
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