Officials yesterday said that Taiwanese fugitive Chen Hsian-ming (陳宣銘) has been detained in Jakarta, while efforts are under way to aid an investigation into a multibillion-dollar investment fraud case involving him.
Chen, who is wanted in Taiwan for allegedly masterminding an embezzlement scheme that defrauded 2,500 investors out of NT$5.2 billion (US$172 million at the current exchange rate), was on Wednesday taken into custody and questioned by Indonesian police on suspicion of forgery and violating immigration law, Representative to Indonesia John Chen (陳忠) said.
Indonesian police have launched an investigation into the fraud case, officials at the Taipei Economic and Trade Office in Jakarta said.
Photo: Chiu Chun-fu, Taipei Times
Chen Hsian-ming was CEO of PT Millennium Penata Futures’ Taiwan branch, which began operations in 2009. He allegedly promised a risk-free investment with an annual yield of 6 percent to local investors, who put their money into a margin account.
Millennium Penata Futures is a subsidiary of Jakarta-based Millenium Danatama Indonesia, which is owned by Chinese-Indonesian Tahir Ferdian (林仲平) and his family.
Chen Hsian-ming allegedly claimed to hold a license to trade in futures contracts in Indonesia through an arrangement with Millenium Danatama Indonesia.
In February last year, Chen Hsian-ming said in a statement that due to financial issues he would terminate all broker operations in Taiwan.
The following month, he issued a letter to investors notifying them that their funds had been frozen and all payments ceased.
At the time, Ferdian said that Taiwanese investors should hold Chen Hsian-ming accountable for their losses.
However, a victims’ self-help group accused Ferdian of colluding with Chen Hsian-ming to create an elaborate scheme, demanding that he and Millenium Danatama Indonesia return their money.
When filing a lawsuit in Taiwan last year, one investor, surnamed Lee (李), said Chen Hsian-ming had taken him and other investors to visit Millenium Danatama Indonesia’s headquarters in Jakarta.
“We believed that Millenium Danatama Indonesia was a legitimate business and that its operations conformed with the law,” Lee said. “However, we now know it was all an orchestrated fraud.”
“I used my house as collateral to borrow money to invest in the scheme,” Lee added. “I lost my life’s savings.”
Millenium Danatama Indonesia must also be held responsible, Lee said, adding that it just wants to wash its hands of the matter, as if it had nothing to do with the case.
John Chen yesterday said the trade office is collaborating with Indonesian authorities, and has dispatched an official to the Jakarta police station where Chen Hsian-ming was being questioned.
“We are working to ensure the personal safety of the arrested Taiwanese fugitive, and to verify no collusion in his testimony,” John Chen said.
“The success in arresting him was due to cooperation between authorities of the two nations. We hope Chen Hsian-ming can provide us with truthful information regarding the case,” he said.
Indonesian police have been gathering evidence related to the case, including materials from the Indonesian agency that regulates futures contract trading and information provided by the self-help group, which the trade office provided, he added.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
‘NARWHAL’: The indigenous submarine completed its harbor acceptance test recently and is now under heavy guard as it undergoes tests in open waters, a source said The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, yesterday began sea trials, sailing out of the Port of Kaohsiung, a military source said. Also known as the “Narwhal,” the vessel departed from CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard at about 8am, where it had been docked. More than 10 technicians and military personnel were on deck, with several others standing atop the sail. After recently completing its harbor acceptance test, the vessel has started a series of sea-based trials, including tests of its propulsion and navigational systems, while partially surfaced, the source said. The Hai Kun underwent tests in the port from
RSS