Actor Chiu Sheng-yi (邱勝翊, better known as Prince, 王子) was brought in for questioning today, the latest in a slew of entertainers being investigated on suspicion of evading compulsory military service.
The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office has launched a fourth wave of crackdowns, as investigators continue to compile a list of suspects believed to have used fraudulent medical documents to avoid service.
This wave is expected to bring in 10 people for questioning, including minor online influencers.
Photo: Lu Yun-feng, Taipei Times
The first few waves, in February, May and October of last year, implicated numerous celebrities, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), boyband Energy members Chang Shu-wei (張書偉) and Hsieh Kunda (謝坤達), and former boyband Lollipop member Leow Jun-jie (廖俊傑).
Three entertainers turned themselves in to prosecutors for evading military service, including actor Hsueh Shih-ling (薛仕凌), a recipient of a Golden Bell Award.
Combined with today’s developments, 19 entertainers have now been implicated, and prosecutors have not ruled out further searches or arrests.
Prosecutors directed the New Taipei City Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Corps and Yonghe Precinct to carry out coordinated raids early this morning.
The case originated in May 2024, when prosecutors and police were investigating a fraud case and unexpectedly discovered evidence on confiscated smartphones that members of a scam ring had hired the head of a draft evasion syndicate named Chen Chih-ming (陳志明) to help them avoid military service.
In January last year, the office arrested Chen, already wanted on other charges, for allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents.
Chen remains in custody and his phone records brought to light a number of male celebrities who had used his services to avoid military service.
As high blood pressure can be used to gain a medical exemption from military service, Chen allegedly purchased several 24-hour blood pressure monitors and instructed his clients on how to artificially create abnormal readings, prosecutors said.
Once the clients were approved for hospital observation and sent home with monitoring devices, Chen or one of his accomplices would allegedly switch the devices to give falsified readings, they said.
Those brought in for questioning today are alleged to have used the same methods to gain a fraudulent medical certificate and evade military service.
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