The prime suspect in a multibillion-dollar gambling and international money laundering case who was in 2023 repatriated from Thailand was again detained on Friday after he was found to have repeatedly approached airports in contravention of his bail conditions.
Kuo Che-min (郭哲敏) — who fled the country to evade prosecution before being arrested in Thailand in August 2023 — is at the center of a 2022 fraud and money laundering case known as the 88 Lounge, named for the club in which the suspects met.
Kuo and his associate Chang Hsu-shen (張旭昇) allegedly made about NT$1.6 billion (US$48.92 million at the current exchange rate) working with an international crime ring to launder more than NT$21.7 billion, prosecutors said.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
The suspects have been charged with fraud, engaging in organized crime, and contravening the Banking Act (銀行法) and the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法).
The prosecution has completed an investigation into Kuo and held a trial hearing, with a ruling expected next month.
In January, a court in New Taipei City released Kuo on NT$200 million bail. The terms of the release required that he be electronically monitored and send photographs of himself to the Ministry of Justice’s Electronic Monitoring Center daily at morning and night.
At a bail hearing on Friday, prosecutors said Kuo had contravened his bail requirements in the past few months, approaching nearby airports and coastal areas.
Numerous irregularities in his electronic monitoring were also detected, resulting in warnings, such as the monitoring device not being linked online and having no communication with him, they said.
The court ordered Kuo to return to judicial detention.
Prosecutors said that he had transferred vast sums of money to overseas accounts, giving him sufficient means to flee abroad, a court filing said.
Another high-profile suspect in the case, Lin Pin-wen (林秉文), repeatedly failed to show up for hearings in New Taipei City, and in late December last year an international wanted notice was issued for his arrest.
Kuo and Lin allegedly worked together to make illicit profits from fraud, international money laundering and online gambling, and operated a gambling operation out of the 88 Lounge. The case has led to investigations into government and judiciary officials who allegedly attended luxury dinners with people believed to be involved in criminal activities.
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