一、

Investigation Departments: Taiwan Taichung District Prosecutors Office (Subdivision Xiao) Prosector Lien Li, International Criminal Affairs Division of Criminal Investigation Bureau (First Investigation Corps), Taipei City Police Department (Criminal Investigation Division Anti-theft Section, Wanhua Precinct), Taoyuan Police Department (Dayuan Precinct, Taoyuan Precinct), Taichung City Police Department (Fongyuan Precinct, Criminal Investigation Division-3rd Investigation Corps), Taichung City Specialized Operation Brigades of National Immigration Agency, Nantou County Police Department -Jiji Precinct, Chiayi County Police Department (Criminal Investigation Division – 3rd Investigation Corps, Zhongpu Precinct), Tainan City Police Department – 2nd Precinct

二、

Time of Seizure: From November 25, 2024 to August 26, 2025.

三、

Location of Seizure: Taoyuan City, Taichung City, Changhua County, Nantou City, and Chiayi City.

四、

Suspects: 15 suspects of Vietnam nationality including suspect Ruan, and 4 suspects of Taiwan nationality including suspect Lin.

五、

Seized Evidence:388,888 Tether coins (equivalent to approximately NT$11.16 million), 1 luxury car, NTD850,000 in cash, 60 ATM cards for committing the crime, 10 laptops for online transfer (including card readers), 1 air riot gun and 1 imitation firearm, 175 bullets, 1 magazine, 4 plaques, Schedule-2 Drug Etomidate and cannabis, Schedule-3 Drug Ketamine, and other illicit stolen goods.

 

六、

Case Summary:

(一)

After the International Criminal Affairs Division received a report on information related to foreign money mules with criminal acts all over Taiwan and the cross-border account collection syndicate, the Division immediately reported and invited Taiwan Taichung District Prosecutors Office (Subdivision Xiao) Prosector Lien Li to act as the commander in investigation. The International Criminal Affairs Division also invited Taipei City Police Department (Criminal Investigation Division Anti-theft Section, Wanhua Precinct), Taoyuan Police Department (Dayuan Precinct, Taoyuan Precinct), Taichung City Police Department (Fongyuan Precinct, Criminal Investigation Division-3rd Investigation Corps), Taichung City Specialized Operation Brigades of National Immigration Agency, Nantou County Police Department -Jiji Precinct, Chiayi County Police Department (Criminal Investigation Division – 3rd Investigation Corps, Zhongpu Precinct), Tainan City Police Department – 2nd Precinct, to form a project team and conduct in-depth investigation.

(二)

The project team discovered that the Vietnamese syndicate leader suspect Nguyen ○○ , who acquired ATM cards of dummy accounts from bank accounts owned by foreigners in counties/cities of Taiwan every day at a price between NTD16,000 and NTD21,000. Suspect Nguyen then distributed the ATM cards to money mule leaders of foreign nationality, hidden in different counties and cities. The money mule leaders then handed over the ATM cards to money mules of foreign nationality under their leadership, so the money mules could collect money intensively from ATM machines. After they withdrew the money, they submitted the money to the cash collector level to level. The collected money was laundered through cryptocurrency, creating a cashflow breakpoint and to disguise and conceal the proceeds of fraud crimes.

(三)

Since late November 2024, the project team launched intensive source-tracing and crackdown operations. The syndicate of foreign nationality, including “money mules (leader).” “account collector (ringleader),” “national (regional) money collectors” were apprehended through 5 operations. Then, the “fake online auction” fraud organization operated remotely by ringleader-suspect Lin of Taiwanese nationality, hidden behind the syndicate, was traced and apprehended. The “money laundering and collecting center” and “fraud computer room” jointly operated by 2 ganglands were successfully broken down. Additionally, 388,888 units of Tether (USDT) (worth approximately NTD11,160,000), 1 luxury car, NTD850,000 in cash, 60 ATM cards for committing the crime, 10 laptops for online transfer (including card readers), 1 air riot gun and 1 imitation firearm, 175 bullets, 1 magazine, 4 plaques, Schedule-2 Drug Etomidate and cannabis, Schedule-3 Drug Ketamine, and other illicit stolen goods, were seized.

(四)

The key Vietnamese  Nguyen ○○ has been ruled and sentenced to imprisonment of 12 years and 6 months, and the money mule leader-suspect Nguyen ○○ was sentenced to imprisonment of 10 years and 2 months at the court of first instance by the Taiwan Taichung District Court. The four suspects of Taiwan nationality, including suspect Lin, were investigated and prosecuted with multiple accounts for crimes in violation of the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act, Money Laundering Control Act, Organized Crime Prevention Act, and fraud in the Taiwan Criminal Code, subject to a specific sentencing of 30 years imprisonment.

(五)

To fight against fraud-related crimes, the Criminal Investigation Bureau will continue to trace the root of scam syndicates and encourage the public to report couriers involved in fraudulent activities.If any illegal activity is discovered, please immediately dial 110 or visit the nearest police station to provide criminal information for investigation. Additionally, the public is reminded not to provide account information with money collection, as this will make the account holder an accomplice, which is not worth the risk.