A suspect alleged to be the mastermind of a criminal ring that operated “rip-off” car-towing businesses was released on NT$300,000 bail yesterday following questioning by prosecutors.
Tsui Po-hsiang (崔博翔), 32, was arrested at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport when he returned from a trip to Thailand. Authorities took him into custody, then transfered him to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning.
Prior to the arrest, authorities on Wednesday searched the offices of three companies — Siaouei Pro Road Rescue and Tow Services (小崔專業救援拖吊), Teng Zhi International Towing (騰至國際) and Dong Hai Car Towing (東海拖吊).
Photo: Chien Li-chung, Taipei Times
Tsui, Tsai Shan-tsung (蔡尚聰), 32, and Hsu Feng-yi (許?頤), 26, are the respective owners of the three firms, the Taipei City Police Department Criminal Investigation Division said.
Including Tsui, seven suspects were arrested, including a woman surnamed Liao (廖), 26, who was allegedly Hsu’s girlfriend and worked as telephone dispatcher linking the three companies to three male tow-truck drivers, police said.
Tsai and Hsu were released on Thursday, each on NT$400,000 bail, and the other four suspects were released on NT$200,000 bail.
The seven suspects are facing charges of engaging in “organized crime” as the three firms allegedly are linked and use the same telephone line to dispatch drivers, aggravated fraud and intimidation, as well as charges of extortion and contravention of the Tax Collection Act (稅捐稽徵法), police said.
A preliminary investigation found that 22 people had filed complaints with the police since 2024 of being charged excessive prices for towing, mainly in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, while police estimated that there were 50 to 60 victims, with most choosing to pay the money.
One driver who was intimidated reportedly had pay up to NT$45,000, but was only towed 3.7km. He was originally quoted a NT$1,200 basic fee, plus NT$30 per kilometer.
Another driver whose car ran out of fuel and made a call to one of the companies, and received the same quote, was handed a bill for NT$56,000. The driver refused to pay and reported the company to the police.
The owner of a car towed from Taoyuan’s Gueishan District (龜山) to Taipei was charged NT$88,000.
Evidence points to Tsui, Tsai and Hsu being friends and business associates, as together they paid up to NT$40,000 for online adverts on social media and to ensure their companies would appear in search results related to car towing, officials said, adding that they effectively monpolized the car-towing business in northern Taiwan for the past few years.
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