Police yesterday said they recently arrested 11 suspects in a fraud ring after discovering that they had used a Changhua County train station bathroom as a hand-off point for illicit cash.
The investigation stemmed from an incident in May, in which a Taiwan Railway passenger found a bag containing NT$1 million (US$32,347) in cash in a men’s bathroom stall at Changhua’s Yuanlin Station, the Railway Police Bureau said.
The man reported the discovery to station workers, who notified the bureau's Taichung Precinct, it said in a news release.
Photo courtesy of the police via CNA
Not long after, a man appeared at the station claiming he had left his bag in the bathroom.
Noticing his nervous demeanor, railway police officers questioned him and found he could not account for where the money came from, the statement said.
Officers concluded that the cash was illegally obtained via fraud. They arrested the man, seized the cash and launched an investigation.
After reviewing surveillance video footage, police learned that the man had met with a victim nearby to receive the cash.
Members of the ring connected with victims via Line, claiming to be an investment company that would use their money to invest in stocks.
Victims were instructed to meet representatives of the "investment company" in person to hand over the money they wanted to invest.
Using the video footage, officers discovered that after meeting the victim, the man had left the bag of cash in the station bathroom to be collected by another fraud ring member, who was also soon arrested, police said.
Continuing their investigation, officers identified the organization’s leader as a 40-year-old man surnamed Chang (張), who operated primarily in Taichung and Changhua County.
Upon learning that Chang planned to leave the country in September, they dispatched police to arrest him at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the bureau said.
After arresting Chang, police seized his computer and sums of cash as evidence, and arrested several other members of the gang.
Based on initial estimates, the suspects defrauded multiple victims of more than NT$10 million, the bureau said.
Following questioning, the 11 people were turned over to the Changhua District Prosecutors' Office on suspicion of fraud, it said.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
RSS