Top employees at Taiwan Svenson Hair Co were indicted on fraud charges yesterday for allegedly selling common shampoo products with no medical properties at unreasonably high prices.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted the owner of the company, Chen Ying-chi (陳穎祺), 48, and four of the company’s officials.
Prosecutors said Svenson has run seven stores in Taiwan since 2005. The company sells 47 highly priced hair health and restoration products and offers courses on hair health and rejuvenation.
Prosecutors said a customer surnamed Soong (宋), 24, had spent more than NT$460,000 on Svenson’s products and courses, but found they had had no impact on his hair loss.
Soong subsequently filed a fraud lawsuit with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office against the company.
Prosecutors said Hong Kong movie star Waise Lee (李子雄) had been hired to endorse the products in an advertisement.
They said Lee, who has a hair loss problem, wore a wig to prove his hair had been restored.
Prosecutors said they believed the company might have committed fraud.
Prosecutors said a man surnamed Wang (王) also endorsed Svenson’s products in an advertisement. The company allegedly filmed the man after having him cut his hair to make it look as though he had less hair and then filmed him one month later after his hair had grown back.
In a further move designed to win public trust, prosecutors said the company had movie star Aaron Chen (陳昭榮) and TV variety show host Hsu Nai-lin (徐乃麟) promote the company’s products.
A domestically developed “suicide drone,” also known as a loitering munition, would be tested and evaluated in July, and could enter mass production next year, Taiwan’s weapons developer said on Wednesday. The yet-to-be-named drone was among nine drone models unveiled by the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) on Tuesday. The drone has been dubbed the “Taiwanese switchblade” by Chinese-language media, due to its similarity to the US-made AeroVironment Switchblade 300, which has been used by Ukraine in counterattacks during Russia’s invasion. It has a range of more than 10km, a flight time of more than 15 minutes, and an electro-optical
OFFLINE: People who do not wish to register can get the money from select ATMs using their bank card, ID number and National Health Insurance card number Online registration for NT$6,000 (US$196.32) cash payments drawn from last year’s tax surplus is to open today for eligible people whose national ID or permanent residency number ends in either a zero or a one, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Officials from the ministry revealed which days Taiwanese and eligible foreigners would be able to register for the cash payments at a joint news conference with the Ministry of Digital Affairs. Online registration is to open tomorrow for those whose number ends in a two or three; on Friday for those that end in a four or five: on Saturday
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are investigating why a Starlux Airlines flight to Penang, Malaysia, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport nearly two hours after takeoff yesterday morning. The airline said in a statement that Flight JX721 to Penang took off from Taoyuan airport at 9:20am. “After the dashboard showed a signal of an abnormality in the hydraulic system, the captain followed standard operating procedures and returned the flight to Taoyuan airport for safety precautions,” the airline said, adding that the flight landed safely at the airport at 11:04am. The airline arranged for the passengers to have lunch after the flight landed and
WORKING UP AN APPETITE: Sales at the Rueifong Night Market surged 20 to 30 percent, while seats at Liouhe Night Market were packed until 1am, market officials said South Korean pop band Blackpink’s concerts over the weekend in Kaohsiung helped draw large crowds to local night markets, the Kaohsiung City Government said yesterday. The two concerts on Saturday and Sunday at Kaohsiung National Stadium drew more than 90,000 people. The city government offered NT$50 vouchers to spend locally to concertgoers who showed their ticket stubs. Liouhe Night Market (六合夜市) management committee head Chuang Chi-chang (莊其章) said that crowds over the weekend surged at about 10pm and the market remained packed until 1:30am. “Almost all the seats were filled,” Chuang said. Night market stall owners had stocked up in expectation of an increased number