Allegations of fraud by cryptocurrency asset management platform Steaker’s founder and CEO Wilson Huang (黃偉軒) likely arose from the company conducting specialized financial services without a business license, the Financial Supervisory Commission said on Friday.
Steaker Inc did not fulfill the requirements for its business operations, did not comply with regulations under the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法) and has likely contravened money laundering laws, the commission’s officials said.
The company had operated cryptocurrency exchange and investment schemes, on which it might have engaged in fraudulent or money laundering activities, as it engaged with the specialized financial services sector without a business license, it said.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office searched the company’s offices and summoned its executives for questioning on Thursday.
Huang was denied bail and placed under judicial detention.
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau cooperated with Taipei prosecutors to raid seven locations, collecting evidence and serving summonses.
Huang’s younger brother, Steaker deputy manager Huang Hao-hsuan (黃浩軒), the company’s chief technical officer Jesse Hsiu (修敏傑), chief operating officer Emma Pan (潘沂莛) and its marketing manager Tesia Lu (盧天心) were summoned and later released on bail ranging from NT$250,000 to NT$500,000 each.
Judicial authorities said the investigation focused on suspected defrauding of investors out of billions of New Taiwan dollars, while prosecutors alleged the executives had contravened the Banking Act (銀行法).
Wilson Huang, 31, has refused to provide the passwords needed to unlock the key “crypto wallets” and the blockchain account ledgers, making it more difficult for investigators to check the crypto transactions, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors quoted Wilson Huang as having denied the fraud charges, saying that Steaker suffered losses due to the collapse of FTX Trading Ltd last month.
Wilson Huang last month said that Steaker had a risk exposure of US$10.66 million, as it had invested in FTX and used its crypto exchange platform, and had filed lawsuits against FTX to recover the losses to Steaker’s clients.
“Our company came under investigation and searches by prosecutors, and our founder and CEO Wilson Huang was questioned. As the case is under judicial investigation, we are unable to provide an opinion on the events,” Steaker said in a statement on Thursday.
“Our company will fully cooperate with the investigation to clarify the issues involved, and we are working to restore normal operations as soon as time permits,” it said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS