A group of information technology (IT) engineers behind the operation of three Taiwan-based gambling Web sites, who had handled transactions totaling NT$4.76 billion (US$148.86 million), have been convicted by the New Taipei District Court on gambling charges.
The five IT engineers were headed by a man surnamed Chan (詹), a National Taiwan University (NTU) graduate and founder of a new high-tech company, who got fellow NTU graduates to develop apps and engage in the online gambling business, the ruling said.
All five were convicted of contravening the Criminal Code by “making profit by furnishing a place or assembling people to gamble.”
Photo: Chen Wei-tzu, Taipei Times
Chan was sentenced to six months in prison and required to pay a NT$150,000 fine.
Three were given five-month sentences, with three years probation.
Another defendant who was considered a principal figure, surnamed Huang (黃), was handed a six-month sentence and ordered to pay a fine of NT$90,000.
Huang has to serve the prison term, since he has previous criminal convictions, the ruling said.
Evidence showed that Chan set up online gambling Web sites based in Taipei and New Taipei City, supervised the Web sites’ design and operations, hired and paid for IT staff, and managed the daily gambling and casino games.
The other three IT engineers were responsible for registering the Web sites, doing regular test runs, graphic design and formatting for the Web sites, setting up an online platform and wallets for money storage and transactions for clients, investigators said.
Evidence showed that Huang held the regional operating rights for IWIN gaming and registered a company to run the payment service via a third party, enabling gamblers to store money through a virtual account.
These gambling Web sites mainly offer games where customers play and bet money, such as slot machines, baccarat, poker and other card games.
When customers win money, they can request to receive their winnings, which would be paid out to their account through a third-party payment platform, investigators said.
Judges said they handed suspended sentences to the four main figures, because they had admitted to the offenses and had no previous criminal record.
Illegal profits from Chan and Huang, worth NT$1.5 million and NT$500,000 respectively, were also seized. All five were ordered to pay fines.
The investigation found that the gambling operation had generated combined betting and money transactions of more than NT$4.76 billion since it began operations in 2021.
“All five suspects have the skills and training backgrounds to earn a regular living, but they chose to work together to run a gambling business and earn profits by enticing people to gamble... Their work promoted gambling, reaping financial gains by playing chance games, which led to more unethical behavior and deteriorating social conditions,” the judges said in their ruling.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and