The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday charged six people with fraud and money laundering over an investment scam that allegedly defrauded late Taiya Group chairman Shen Yu-hsiung (沈裕雄) of nearly NT$5 billion (US$169.4 million).
Lo Pei-wen (羅佩雯) is suspected of leading the scheme, alongside Cheng Chun-chun (鄭淳駿), Yang Kuo-lung (楊國隆), Hsieh Tsung-han (謝宗翰), Lo Wen-chieh (羅文傑) and Chan Yi-ling (8), prosecutors said.
Lo Pei-wen, Cheng and Hsieh were detained and held incommunicado during the investigation, and their cases are to be transferred to the Taipei District Court, which would decide whether to extend custody, prosecutors said.
Photo: Chien Li-chung, Taipei Times
Lo Pei-wen previously served time for fraud related to false profit claims from airline ticket arbitrage between 2008 and 2011, and was released on parole in June 2014.
After encountering financial difficulties in 2015, she resumed criminal activity, including running a Ponzi scheme, prosecutors said.
They said she convinced 10 people to invest more than NT$525 million, repaying early investors with high interest using funds from later investors.
After meeting Shen through Cheng, Lo Pei-wen allegedly defrauded the then-chairman of the large clothing company Taiya out of more than NT$4.88 billion, they said.
Cheng knowingly helped Lo Pei-wen illicitly receive money from Shen using his personal bank accounts, prosecutors said.
In a separate scheme, prosecutors said Lo Pei-wen defrauded Shen of an additional NT$54.5 million and US$7.14 million between July 2022 and February 2023 by falsely claiming she could assist with immigration investments in countries such as the UK, Australia and Mexico.
Shen died in October 2023, and his family filed a complaint after having trouble reconciling Shen’s accounts.
Lo Pei-wen allegedly transferred criminal proceeds to her ex-husband, Hsieh Tsung-han, who used the funds to open a restaurant and buy property in Australia, prosecutors said.
She also allegedly sent money to her brother Lo Wen-chieh and sister-in-law Chan Yi-ling under false loan agreements to finance restaurant ventures and property purchases, they said.
In an effort to recover some of the funds, the Administrative Enforcement Agency’s Shilin branch auctioned 130 luxury items seized from Lo Pei-wen, raising NT$21.41 million in two sales last month and this month.
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