A campaign against fraud has resulted in police breaking up 633 alleged scammer organizations and identifying 3,992 suspects, the National Police Agency (NPA) told a news conference at the NPA headquarters in Taipei yesterday.
The agency carried out a series of operations targeting lending and money laundering activities using cryptocurrency, Anti-Fraud Command Center head Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said.
The operations took place from Jan. 8 to 17, officials said.
Photo: CNA
Financial Security Commission officials and Taiwan Virtual Asset Service Provider Association representatives also attended the news conference to announce the launch of a public-private task force to fight crypto-based fraud.
The enforcement operations led to the confiscation of alleged criminal proceeds valued at more than NT$971.43 million (US$29.6 million), disbanded 271 money lending organizations, with 340 suspects identified from the organizations, Ma said.
Police uncovered 125 instances of alleged money laundering involving cryptocurrency, with 143 suspects to be prosecuted, he said.
A well-educated public that is aware of the risks posed by scammers, and cooperation between public and private-sector actors are crucial to counter fraud, a criminal activity characterized by constant innovation, Ma said.
Separately, Criminal Investigation Bureau 4th Investigation Corps Commander Tseng Shun-kuang (曾順光) said that his unit last year cracked down on scammers who allegedly defrauded 20 people of a combined NT$100 million.
The group, whose members included financing companies, scriveners and an unregistered lender, conspired to scam people with fake investment schemes before taking out mortgages on the properties of those it targeted, Tseng said.
Police questioned 17 suspects and found sufficient material to recommend that the Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office charge them with aggravated fraud, money laundering and racketeering, he said.
CIB International Criminal Affairs Division Chief Lee Kun-ta (李昆達) said that a review of records and data helped police identify a suspected money laundering operation in Taoyuan that worked for Chinese scammers.
The main suspect in the case allegedly created an online shopping platform to trick Chinese into giving away their personal financial information, he said.
The accounts of targets were drained and used to buy tether, a cryptocurrency, which was used to conduct nominal transactions to hide illegal profits from gambling and other schemes, Lee said.
This money-laundering group processed about 100 million yuan (US$13,77 million), he said.
In January, a task force raided facilities and residences connected to the case, and recommended that the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office indict six people on charges linked to the scheme, he said.
The investigation is ongoing, as police believe the suspects worked for a higher authority in one or more organized crime groups, Lee said.
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