Controversial Chinese "magic doctor" Zhang Ying (
Zhang turned up at the city's criminal investigation unit yesterday following a telephone call from a local lawyer representing her.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Zhang disappeared on Saturday after the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office (
Zhang denied yesterday that she had committed fraud or treated any patients.
She was released following questioning yesterday after witnesses failed to come forward to testify. Zhang could face up to three years in prison and a NT$150,000 fine if convicted of practising medicine without license.
Prosecutors said they would continue to bar her from leaving the country, adding that they were looking into possible involvement in the fraud by other people.
Zhang, who currently resides in the US, arrived in Taiwan late last month with her Taiwan-born husband to visit relatives. Over the past week she has been demonstrating her ability to "snatch medicine pills out of thin air" (隔空抓藥) and to treat patients with so-called "supernatural powers."
Local reporters had said that Zhang is a state-certified "person with miraculous power" in China and that she charges exorbitant fees for her services.
Zhang was supposed to have demonstrated her powers on Thursday at a local television station. Her show, however, was interrupted and challenged by famous local magician Nien Li-jen (
Nien found a small piece of wax under the table Zhang was using and said it had been prepared by Zhang or her assistants beforehand. After this, Zhang failed to conjure up any more medicine during her performance, saying "I could not concentrate my power in the presence of someone who doubted my abilities."
The episode -- which took place under the glare of the media spotlight -- led to a court order Friday night barring her from leaving the country.
Since then, Nien and at least one other local magician have claimed that they received threatening phone calls after trying to expose what they believed was trickery.
Local magicians also said that they would pay Zhang NT$3.2 million if she can successfully conjure up medicine pills out of thin air under their supervision.
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