Fourteen people have been arrested over a cryptocurrency investment scam that allegedly defrauded more than 100 people out of about NT$150 million (US$5.41 million) over the past year, police said on Friday.
The 14 suspects face charges of fraud, money laundering and breaches of the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例), the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said.
A businessman surnamed Chen (陳) allegedly led the scheme, said CIB investigator Kuo Yu-chih (郭有志), who is in charge of the case.
Chen promoted cryptocurrency investment on social media and led the Taipei-based Azure Crypto Co, which offered cryptocurrency transactions, as well as other investment services, Kuo said.
Chen’s investment schemes focused on the cryptocurrencies ethereum, tronix and tether, Kuo said, adding that Chen promised high investment earnings through the blockchain technology.
“Chen and his staff set up Web sites, and allegedly used photographs of pretty women to attract mainly male victims, many of whom were in retirement with substantial savings,” he said.
The victims were drawn to the Web sites by the attractive images and persuaded to invest through interactions they believed to be with the women, while Chen and his staff presented themselves as financial advisers specializing in cryptomining, Kuo said.
Investigators confiscated ledgers listing more than 100 people caught up in the scam, the bureau said.
The person who lost the most had invested NT$29 million over two months, it said.
Investigators quoted the man as saying that after an initial investment, Azure Crypto promised him earnings that prompted him to invest more.
After complaints, the bureau monitored the firm’s activities and its online transactions over several months before conducting raids late last month at the company’s office, and the residences of Chen and his staff.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS