Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment.
The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia.
At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed.
Photo: Gan Meng-lin, Taipei Times
The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains the private keys to 127,271 bitcoins, valued at about US$150 billion, the indictment said, adding that Chen is not in custody.
If the indictments stand, he would face 40 years in prison, it said.
Prince Group has been declared a Transnational Criminal Organization by the treasury department.
“As alleged, the defendant was the mastermind behind a ... criminal enterprise built on human suffering,” US Assistant Attorney-General for National Security John Eisenberg said. “Trafficked workers were confined in prison-like compounds and forced to carry out online scams on an industrial scale, preying on thousands worldwide, including many here in the US.”
“As alleged, the defendant directed one of the largest investment fraud operations in history, fueling an illicit industry that is reaching epidemic proportions,” US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr said. “This historic indictment and forfeiture complaint send a strong message to fraudsters everywhere that we will pursue you no matter where you are, no matter who you are, and no matter your insidious methods, and we will never stop fighting for victims.”
The SDN lists include three Taiwanese: Huang Chieh, Shih Ting-yu and Michelle Reishane Wang, the treasury department said.
The nine Taiwanese companies listed are Alphaconnect Investments Co Ltd (聯凡), Alphaconnect Investments II Co Ltd (聯凡貳), Greenbay Properties (澄碩), Huntsman Investments Co Ltd (邁羽), Majesty Properties Co Ltd (鳴灣), Drew Properties Co Ltd (博居), Drew Properties II Co Ltd (博居貳), Binary Properties Co Ltd (睿督) and Taiwan Prince Real Estate Investment Co Ltd (太子不動產投資), the OFAC list showed.
The head of eight of the nine companies was the same person, surnamed Lin (林), with the companies’ address all listed in a luxury apartment in Taipei’s Daan District (大安), Chinese-language media reported yesterday.
An 18-month joint investigation by the US and the UK showed that Chen and his accomplices transferred criminal proceeds overseas and used them to purchase luxury homes, yachts, private jets and paintings, local media reported.
Additional reporting by CNA
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
PLANE HIT: The Israeli military said it shot down an Iranian Air Force fighter over Tehran, while an Iranian warship sank off Sri Lanka, with no cause known The US and Israel yesterday hit Iran’s capital and other cities in multiple airstrikes on the fifth day of the war with Iran. Israel targeted the Iranian leadership and security forces, while the Islamic Republic responded with missile barrages and drone attacks on Israel, and across the region. Tehran residents woke to dawn blasts and Iranian state television showed the ruins of building in the center of the capital. The Shiite seminary city of Qom and multiple other cities were also targeted. With fighter jets roaring overhead, those still in Tehran looked anxiously to the skies. One man, who ran a clothing shop,
Taiwan pineapples are to be exported to the US for the first time later this year, after the US yesterday announced importation requirements, the Ministry of Agriculture said today. The US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service yesterday published a draft of requirements to import Taiwanese pineapples, with a 62-day comment period, the ministry said in a news release. The US maintains strict requirements for imported fresh fruit, it said. The ministry’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency applied to export pineapples to the US in 2020 and has since cooperated with the US to provide all the necessary information and reports, it
RSS