Five people have been indicted by Yunlin County prosecutors after allegedly exploiting Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s (THSR) ticket refund system to launder illicit funds.
After receiving a report of irregular transactions from the rail company, prosecutors directed investigators from the Criminal Investigation Bureau and Changhua County Police Department to form a special task force, the Yunlin District Prosectors’ Office said in a news release today.
By reviewing data from the THSR booking system and cross-checking it with cash flow records from Taishin Bank, investigators reconstructed the full scope of the crime, prosecutors said.
Photo: CNA
Since June 21 last year, a fraud ring of five people is suspected of posting fake messages on social media, including bogus prize alerts, claims about needing real-name verification for online shopping and offers to exchange currency into Chinese yuan, prosecutors said.
Eight people followed the instructions and made payments via Taiwan Pay, which were used to book long-distance THSR business-class tickets, they said.
Fraud ring members then went to THSR service counters around the nation to obtain cash refunds totaling NT$260,000, prosecutors said.
By spreading the transactions across multiple locations, the fraudsters attempted to create gaps in the financial trail and conceal the origin of the illicit proceeds, they said.
The group first considered laundering money through airline tickets, but decided against it, as airports are fewer in number and have stricter security and identity checks, prosecutors said.
Instead, they used THSR stations, which have more locations and see large passenger flows, prosecutors said.
This is a novel method of money laundering and was challenging to investigate, as it involved operations and transactions across the country, they added.
The five defendants are suspected of contravening the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例) and Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), and committing joint fraud under the Criminal Code, prosecutors said.
Although the defendants are young and capable of earning a living, they instead engaged in fraud and money laundering, seriously undermining social trust and financial order, prosecutors said, requesting the court impose heavier prison sentences of at least two years.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS