Seven people were released on bail today, after Taipei prosecutors yesterday searched several locations of an e-commerce company suspected to be Chinese funded that allegedly provided third-party payment service in Taiwan without authorization.
Shopline former general manager surnamed Yeh (葉), who is suspected of contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), was released on NT$600,000 bail today, prosecutors said.
Other company managers and staffers were released on bail ranging from NT$100,000 to NT$200,000, they added.
Photo: CNA
Another former general manager of the company, surnamed Chen (陳), was released without bail.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said it searched the company and brought in associated people for questioning after receiving tip-offs about the case.
Shopline, an e-commerce platform for small and medium-sized enterprises, claimed to have assisted more than 600,000 brands worldwide in starting businesses since it was founded in 2013.
ECPay, a third-party payment service provider, in a statement in January last year said that it had ceased cooperation with Shopline after it found the company was Chinese funded and attempted to cover up its source of funding to evade government supervision.
Joyy Inc, a Chinese enterprise founded in 2005 that owns several social media platforms, including Hago, Bigo Live and Likee, invested in Shopline in 2022, ECPay said in the statement.
Shopline responded in a statement last year, saying that it was a global platform with its headquarters located in Singapore.
Joyy was a US-listed company with its headquarters in Singapore, Shopline’s statement said.
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