The legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee yesterday approved the first reading of amendments that would increase penalties for attempts to recruit people to commit crimes abroad, after a scheme that lured jobseekers to Cambodia received significant media coverage last year.
The proposed changes of the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防治條例), drafted by the Executive Yuan, stipulate fines of up to NT$20 million (US$651,254) and prison terms of up to seven years, while stipulating higher penalties when the people targeted are underage.
The amendments were drafted after investigators found that a trafficking ring had lured Taiwanese to Cambodia by promising them high-paying jobs, but forced them to participate in telecommunications fraud, while subjecting them to sexual exploitation. Instances of organ harvesting were also reported.
Photo: CNA
The amendments would also bar people convicted of organized crime charges from running for public office.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that people who are convicted, but are not handed a punishment or receive a delayed sentence, would also be barred from running in elections.
The amendments stipulate higher penalties for public servants found guilty of involvement in organized crime, including financing and recruitment for crime rings.
Under the amendments, public servants found guilty of such offenses might have their assets confiscated and illicit profits seized
Amendments to the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防治法) were also discussed yesterday, but failed to gain support. Debate on the proposal is to continue.
One proposal stipulates prison terms of up to five years and fines of up to NT$4 million for public servants who use their office as a front for collecting information on people’s accounts with financial institutions, cryptocurrency platforms or third-party payment platforms.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗) objected to the proposal, saying that the fines should be up to NT$100 million.
Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) offered to raise the maximum fine to NT$50 million, but remove a clause stipulating separate fines “if three people or more have jointly committed the crime.”
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