Kaohsiung police on Monday arrested suspected members of an extortion ring who allegedly posed online as teenagers to arrange meetings with people for sex, prosecutors said.
The alleged ringleader, 31-year-old Hsu Chih-wei (徐智威), was detained after questioning, while his partner, Wang Chi-jen (王啟任), a 29-year-old lawyer, was released on bail on Friday, prosecutors said, adding that they had raided their offices and residences after receiving tip-offs.
Hsu has allegedly been operating sex trade businesses for several years, they said, adding that he earlier this year teamed up with Wang.
From January until last month, Hsu and a 20-year-old woman surnamed Chen (陳) posed as female teenagers on chat sites, seeking a “sugar daddy” and to arrange meetings for sex, prosecutors said, adding that more than 40 people fell for that scheme.
After arranging a meeting, Hsu would call the person by telephone, or approach them at the site of the arranged meeting, prosecutors said.
He would then tell them that he was the teenage girl’s father and demand a “compensation payment” of up to NT$1 million (US$35,832), prosecutors said, adding that he would also threaten to report them.
If they were unwilling to pay, Wang would also approach them, urging them to sign a “compensation agreement,” they said
Those who arranged to meet the teenager included owners of businesses, doctors and military officials, prosecutors said, adding that the ring extorted up to NT$10 million.
Hsu and Wang might be charged with aggravated fraud, forgery, sexual exploitation and related offenses, prosecutors said.
Hsu was previously sentenced to six years in prison for contravening the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童及少年性剝削防制條例).
He had been operating a prostitution ring involving underage girls and a similar extortion scheme, prosecutors said.
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