Police yesterday said that a South African man living in Taipei who was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of staging his own daughter's kidnapping may have a history of fraudulent behavior.
The suspect, who cannot be named or pictured because of child-protection regulations, is suspected of faking the kidnapping to pay off debts incurred in setting up an Internet radio station.
Police said the suspect approached them on Thursday, claiming that he and his daughter had been in front of a post office in Muzha earlier in the day when three men on two scooters pulled up and snatched the girl. He said he was instructed by the men to await instructions before they sped away.
Several minutes later, the suspect said he received two text messages demanding NT$5 million (US$153,000) in exchange for the return of his daughter.
The suspect and his Taiwanese wife later went to the Muzha police station to report the matter, but when police said that they would start investigating the case, the wife allegedly fled.
Police then began looking at surveillance videos of the post office area and found that the suspect and his daughter had not been walking there as the suspect had claimed.
Later, police discovered the suspect's daughter at a kindergarten where she was not enrolled, and learned that her father had told her he would return for her later in the day. Police then intercepted the suspect and arrested him when he arrived to collect her.
The suspect allegedly confessed to staging the kidnapping to pay off debts incurred in trying to set up an English-language radio station. One identifiable poster on Forumosa.com, a Web site dedicated to Taiwan's expatriates, alleged that the suspect defrauded him out of NT$548,000. The administrator and other members of Forumosa were also said to have been involved in setting up the radio station, and expressed dismay at the news of the staged kidnapping and the possibility that the radio project was a also a scam.
Police are now looking into allegations that the suspect has defrauded other victims in separate incidents.
Complaints were apparently lodged with police as long ago as July from parents of children at an English-language cram school where the suspect worked. The complainants apparently claimed that he had defrauded them out of NT$1 million in relation to a promised summer camp for the children in South Africa which never materialized.
Taiwan yesterday said it was looking forward to attending an upcoming memorial in Japan to mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, a day after the Japanese city said it had retracted its previous decision to not invite Taiwan to the event. The case has been dealt with by Taiwan’s representative office in Fukuoka and the Nagasaki City Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The ministry would decide who to send to the Aug. 9 event once it receives the invitation, it added. The ministry made the remarks following a Japanese media report on Saturday that said Nagasaki Mayor
UNILATERAL: The move from China’s aviation authority comes despite a previous 2015 agreement that any changes to flight paths would be done by consensus The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday slammed Beijing for arbitrarily opening the M503 flight route’s W121 connecting path, saying that such unilateral conduct disrespected the consensus between both sides and could destabilize the Taiwan Strait and the wider region. The condemnation came after the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) earlier yesterday announced it “has activated the W121 connecting path of the M503 flight route,” meaning that west-to-east flights are now permitted along the path. The newly activated west-to-east route is intended to “alleviate the pressure caused by the increase of flights,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office
LANDMARK: Taiwan and Haiti are set to mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations next year, the president said, adding that the two would deepen bilateral ties President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday pledged continued support for Haiti, particularly in food aid and healthcare, as the Caribbean nation faces ongoing social and economic challenges. Speaking at a meeting with Haitian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste, Lai said Taiwan would step up bilateral cooperation to help improve Haiti’s social infrastructure. Taiwan would continue supporting Haiti through initiatives aimed at improving healthcare, food security and overall development, he said. Taiwan and Haiti are set to mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations next year, the president said, adding that the two nations would continue to support each other and deepen bilateral
STRONG WINDS: Without the Central Mountain Range as a shield, people should be ready for high-speed winds, CWA weather forecaster Liu Yu-chi said Danas was yesterday upgraded to a typhoon and could grow stronger as it moves closely along the nation’s west coastline, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Hsinchu and Chiayi cities, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Nantou, Chiayi, Penghu and Pingtung counties have canceled work and school today. Work and school in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Yilan, Taitung, Hualien, Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties would continue as usual, although offices and schools would be closed in Taoyuan’s Luju (蘆竹), Dayuan (大園), Guangyin (觀音) and Sinwu (新屋) districts. As of 5pm yesterday, the typhoon’s