A Malaysian influencer has been sentenced to six months in prison for his involvement in a scam ring, the Changhua District Court announced.
Hu Chang Mun (許振文), who worked as a money mule for the fraud ring, on Jan. 2 was found guilty of attempting to scam a Taiwanese out of NT$2.88 million (US$87,885).
As Hu, 31, was not a core member of the group, pled guilty and was cooperative, the court handed him a lenient sentence.
Photo courtesy of the Changhua County Police Department
However, Hu is not eligible to have the sentence commuted to a fine and must serve the six months, the court said.
The ruling also said that as a foreign national found guilty of fraud in Taiwan, Hu would be deported after serving his sentence or if he is pardoned, as he is “not fit to remain in Taiwan.”
Better known by his influencer name Ady Hu, the Malaysian content creator traveled to Taiwan in December last year on a travel visa.
His family had lost contact with him and his parents held a news conference in Malaysia on Dec. 18 last year to ask the Taiwanese authorities to help find their son.
It was later confirmed that a foreign national arrested by Changhua County Police Department’s Yuanlin Precinct on Dec. 11 last year was Hu.
Hu became a money mule for a Taiwanese scam ring as early as Dec. 6, an indictment released by the Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Hu’s arrest was made possible after an unnamed person realized he was being scammed when asked to pay NT$2.88 million for an apparent stock trading opportunity over Line.
After concluding the “opportunity” was a scam, he reported it to the police.
As part of a sting operation on Dec. 11, the person arranged to meet Hu at a coffee shop in Changhua’s Yuanlin City (員林) to give him the money.
Hu claimed to be a foreign agent for an investment company sent to collect the funds, but after taking a package of fake bank notes, was arrested by undercover police officers.
The court’s ruling said that Hu admitted to having received NT$20,000 as payment for his participation in the ring, NT$11,000 of which has been entered into evidence, while the remainder has been confiscated.
Hu’s sentence can be appealed.
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