CRIME
Kaohsiung indicts 18
Eighteen people were indicted by Kaohsiung prosecutors on Wednesday on suspicion of engaging in money laundering in online gambling platforms that allegedly earned them illicit profits estimated at NT$80.6 million (US$2.46 million). The prime suspect, a 41-year-old man surnamed, Lee (李), and 17 others were charged with contraventions of the Criminal Code, the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法) and the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪條例), the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office said. Lee allegedly set up several dummy accounts for deposits in Vietnamese dong and recruited people to launder money from online gambling platforms, the office said. The operation was undertaken remotely, with Lee renting two residential apartments in Kaohsiung’s Sanmin District (三民), at which the computer equipment providing the service was installed, the office said. The ring was found to have laundered 10.99 trillion Vietnamese dong (US$432.38 million) in two years, it said.
CRIME
Passport suspect indicted
The head of a Taipei immigration services company has been indicted for allegedly selling forged Burkina Faso passports, Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. The suspect, a woman surnamed Lai (賴), targeted parents looking to get their children into international schools in Taiwan that restrict admission to foreign passport holders, the office said. Lai obtained the fake passports from a man named Daniel Wang and sold seven of the forgeries for roughly US$16,000 each between 2018 and last year, it said. Despite Lai’s claims that she thought the passports were genuine, text messages indicated that she was aware of the fraud and colluded with Wang, it said. A separate investigation into Wang has been launched.
CRIME
Theft of coins probed
An investigation was launched this week over the theft of coins and other items from a warehouse, Tainan police said, adding that a Vietnamese woman has been questioned regarding the matter. The 44-year-old woman is suspected to have stolen goods and money worth a total of NT$460,000, the Tainan City Police Department said. Among the items that were taken were approximately 2,200 NT$50 coins, 400 NT$5 coins, 1,600 NT$10 coins, 100 NT$1,000 bills and a gold necklace, the department said. The victim, who had saved money by collecting coins, reported the burglary about a week ago, it said. The items were recovered from the woman’s residence and returned to the victim.
DIPLOMACY
Turkey to get sewing gear
Taiwan has signed an agreement to donate sewing machines and other equipment to support the livelihoods of women in a municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Mission in Ankara said. The agreement was inked at a ceremony on Monday by Representative to Turkey Huang Chih-yang (黃志揚) and Ismet Yildirim, the mayor of Umraniye, which is to receive the aid. Taiwan has worked with the Turkish government and non-governmental organizations on humanitarian aid and programs for the empowerment of women for many years, Huang said. Last year, Taiwan’s donations to Turkey for post-earthquake reconstruction efforts prompted Turkish parliamentarian Tugba Isik Ercan to reach out to the mission for help to enhance employment opportunities for disadvantaged women in Turkey, Huang said. The municipality offers courses on sewing, which are especially popular among women, Yildirim said.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
SECURITY RISK: A university student sent a general alarm signal to THSRC’s control center on April 5, causing four operating trains to temporarily halt services The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday pledged to submit a report on ways to harden the communication security of railway systems after a university student hacked into Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s (THSRC) radio communications system and disrupted operations of four high-speed rail trains last month. Investigation by the police and prosecutors found that the university student and radio enthusiast, surnamed Lin (林), first used a software-defined radio (SDR) filter to analyze THSRC signals, downloaded the data to a computer, cracked the parameters and then programmed the codes into his radio devices. Lin then sent a general alarm signal to
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