Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) yesterday attended a plaque-revealing ceremony inaugurating the newly established Anti-Fraud Office at the Executive Yuan in Taipei.
The office would play a supervisory role in leading law enforcement efforts and integrating civil society resources in combating fraud, a type of crime that is continuously evolving, Chen said.
The general directive of the organization is to limit any contact, disinformation and damage related to fraud, he said.
Photo: CNA
Anti-fraud efforts must be successfully implemented, he cited President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as saying in a Cabinet meeting in the morning.
The office would be headed by Executive Yuan adviser Lee Hsien-ming (李賢明) and include one or two officials each from the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Digital Affairs, Financial Supervisory Commission and National Communications Commission, the Executive Yuan said.
The anti-fraud office would oversee the full range of the government’s anti-fraud activities and handle major fraud cases when necessary, Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said.
He made the remarks at a separate plaque-revealing ceremony for the Taiwan Science and Technology Office for Net-zero Emissions in Taipei.
Taking action against fraud is a top priority of the Tsai administration and it has broad cross-party support, Cheng said.
A government campaign against fraud has led to a decline in text scams, while 2,700 Web sites linked to fraud have been removed from the Internet in the past month, he said.
Asked about mortgage fraud allegations against former Executive Yuan adviser Chen Cheng-kun (陳振坤), Cheng said the former official no longer works for the Cabinet in any capacity.
Regarding recent fraud allegations against the Australia-based Ayers Alliance, he said the foreign-registered company is being investigated by police and financial regulators for suspected unauthorized mortgage trading.
The government has launched initiatives that resulted in the passage of five pieces of legislation targeting telecom fraud, he said, while banking regulators have intercepted suspicious transactions totaling NT$4.5 billion (US$146.27 million) and improved verification processes for payments to curb scams, he said.
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