Taipei prosecutors have detained 25 suspects and seized more than NT$4.5 billion (US$145.72 million) in assets linked to the Cambodia-based Prince Holding Group (Prince Group), which the US sanctioned last month for transnational fraud and money laundering involving Taiwanese nationals and companies.
In a statement released yesterday, the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office said the group, led by Chen Zhi (陳志), a China-born Cambodian tycoon, allegedly operated large-scale online scams in Cambodia and laundered the illicit proceeds through shell companies and business networks spanning multiple countries.
US federal prosecutors indicted Chen and his associates on Oct. 8, and the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control later added three Taiwanese nationals and nine Taiwan-registered companies to its sanctions list, which was made public on Oct. 14.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau
After receiving information from US authorities, the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office formed a task force on Oct. 15 with the Investigation Bureau’s Taipei office and the National Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Bureau to trace the group’s financial flows and assets in Taiwan.
Early yesterday, investigators and police conducted 47 simultaneous raids on the homes and offices of senior members of the Prince Group and related firms — all based in Taipei — including Taiwan Prince Real Estate Investment Co and Alphaconnect Investments Co.
Prosecutors said a total of 25 suspects were detained, and 10 witnesses were summoned for questioning.
The statement said prosecutors obtained court approval to seize 18 real-estate properties — including 11 luxury apartments and 48 parking spaces in the upscale Peace Palace complex on Taipei’s Heping East Road — worth NT$3.81 billion to prevent asset flight.
In addition, 26 luxury vehicles, including Rolls-Royce, Ferrari and Lamborghini models valued at NT$477.58 million, and 60 bank accounts holding NT$235.87 million, were also confiscated.
The total value of the seized assets reached about NT$4.53 billion, the Taipei District Court confirmed in a ruling issued on Oct. 27.
According to the Investigation Bureau, the Prince Group ran forced-labor scam parks in Cambodia that engaged in cryptocurrency and online gambling fraud schemes.
The illicit gains were funneled through shell companies established in various countries and then laundered through the purchase of luxury goods and real estate to conceal their criminal origins, the bureau said.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS