Tue, Sep 15, 2026 page2

• Four Vietnamese children saved as eight indicted over religious work scam

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  The Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office has indicted a naturalized Taiwanese woman from Vietnam and seven others for allegedly exploiting workers from Vietnam, including minors, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday.

  The woman, surnamed Nguyen, claimed to be “the reincarnation of a living Buddha,” the NIA's Taichung City Specialized Operation Brigade said in a statement.

  She allegedly lured Vietnamese followers into bringing their underage children to Taiwan for work under the guise of religious practice, subjecting them to prolonged labor, the brigade said.

  

  Dishes are left on the ground at a restaurant where people from Vietnam, including minors, were allegedly forced to work.

  Photo courtesy of the National Immigration Agency via CNA

  In February, several Vietnamese fathers traveled to Taiwan to report that their wives, influenced by religious beliefs, had left home and taken their underage children to Taiwan, the brigade said.

  Based on the reports, the NIA formed a special task force, while the Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office was asked to direct the investigation, it said.

  The task force found that Nguyen, who had married a Taiwanese more than 20 years ago, promoted her teachings online and encouraged followers to bring their children to Taiwan on tourist visas for "spiritual practice," the brigade said.

  She taught followers that working for her could help them accumulate good karma and attain salvation when the apocalypse came, it said.

  Believers who sold their property and left their families to come to Taiwan were made to work without pay at farms and restaurants arranged by Nguyen, the brigade said, adding that their passports were confiscated, and their communications and freedom of movement were restricted.

  The minors were required to start work early in the morning and were deprived of schooling, leisure activities and a normal environment in which to develop, it said.

  To evade investigation, Nguyen, who runs a restaurant in Changhua, and her accomplices moved some of the Vietnamese mothers and children to Miaoli County and New Taipei City, where they were placed under the supervision of other believers, the brigade said.

  Meanwhile, the followers believed they were engaging in religious and spiritual practices and that the money earned by Nguyen would be donated to charity, it said.

  Investigators found that Nguyen had been permanently barred from entering Vietnam in July 2023 over alleged religious scams, and that she had shifted her religious activities to Taiwan after obtaining permanent residency there.

  After months of investigation and evidence gathering, the special task force raided locations where the victims were being held, the brigade said.

  Four minors who had been exploited were rescued and have since safely returned to their families in Vietnam, it said.

  Following the investigation, the Changhua District Prosecutors' Office indicted Nguyen, four accomplices — all naturalized Taiwanese women from Vietnam — and three Vietnamese mothers on charges of labor exploitation under the Human Trafficking Prevention Act (人口販運防制法) and abducting minors.
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