A Taiwanese man who allegedly lured more than 10 people into working for a fraud ring in Cambodia has been arrested in Vietnam and repatriated, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
The 21-year-old suspect, surnamed Fan (范), was a recruiter for a Cambodian fraud syndicate that tricked Taiwanese into traveling to the country with fake job advertisements, CIB International Criminal Affairs Division Captain Chen Ssu-han (陳思翰) said.
Fan traveled to Cambodia in 2022 and took part in telecom fraud operations and became a core member of the group, Chen said.
Photo: Reuters
People who have been rescued from the operation told Taiwanese authorities that Fan was an enforcer, beating those who disobeyed orders, as well as forcing them to do push-ups or carry heavy buckets.
Pregnant women were also subject to the abuse, Chen said.
People who wanted to leave were forced to pay US$5,000 or more, he said.
The syndicate Fan belonged to was raided by police in 2023, after which he was placed on a wanted list by five district prosecutors’ offices on suspicion of human trafficking, Chen said.
He fled, traveling to Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam to avoid capture, the CIB said.
Fan was apprehended by Vietnamese authorities in July while attempting to enter the country illegally, the bureau said.
Following negotiations conducted by the CIB’s liaison office in Vietnam, local officials agreed to allow Taiwanese officers to escort Fan back to Taiwan on Sept. 24, Chen said.
Since then, he has been in detention after a court approved the measure, he added.
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