Investigators yesterday summoned two women, surnamed Chang (張) and Lee (李), for questioning following the deaths of five members of a Taichung family, who allegedly ended their lives after falling victim to a scam ring touting fraudulent gold investments.
Chang is a cosmetologist and a friend of the eldest daughter of the family, while Lee allegedly was the intermediary to buy the gold and could be working for an investment scam ring, according to a statement by Taichung’s Fongyuan Police Precinct.
Taichung prosecutors and police announced the launch of the investigation at a news conference yesterday, following the discovery of five bodies at their home in Fongyuan District (豐原) on Wednesday.
Photo: Chang Hsuan-tse, Taipei Times
Police said the victims had killed themselves, as four of the five had left suicide notes.
The notes stated that they had been “deceived by a gold investment scheme,” were “accumulating heavier and heavier debts,” and were “unable to solve their problems and decided to commit suicide at home,” after allegedly incurring millions of New Taiwan dollars in debts, police said.
Taichung City Councilor Hsieh Chih-chung (謝志忠) said the family last week had visited his office to seek help, and his aides recommended they go to the police, as the debts were growing due to compound loan interest.
The family had come under pressure and were living in fear due to threats of violence, as loan sharks and scam rings had sent people to their home to demand money from them, Hsieh said.
The family consisted of elderly parents, as well as two daughters and a son in their 20s and 30s.
The family had put up their house as collateral to the value of NT$8 million (US$276,520), but were still carrying NT$5 million of debt, as well as high-interest loans to loan sharks and pawnshops, Hsieh said, adding that these contributed to their decision to commit suicide.
For those incurring debt from fraudulent investment schemes, Hsieh said that people could apply for legal aid and to arrange longer-term repayment plans with their lenders.
They could also obtain a court injunction for temporary measures against illegal lenders, Hsieh added.
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taiwan is bracing for a political shake-up as a majority of directly elected lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) face the prospect of early removal from office in an unprecedented wave of recall votes slated for July 26 and Aug. 23. The outcome of the public votes targeting 26 KMT lawmakers in the next two months — and potentially five more at later dates — could upend the power structure in the legislature, where the KMT and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) currently hold a combined majority. After denying direct involvement in the recall campaigns for months, the
RSS