Taiwan 32 held on mainland admit to fraud
Print Edition
A TOTAL of 32 Taiwan people currently detained on the Chinese mainland and suspected of fraud have confessed to crimes, the Ministry of Public Security claimed yesterday.
They were deported, along with 65 mainland suspects, from Malaysia on April 30, and are alleged to belong to five criminal syndicates, according to a ministry statement issued on Saturday at the conclusion of a three-day meeting between mainland police and a delegation of judicial officials from Taiwan in the southern city of Zhuhai.
The suspects were among 117 people detained in Malaysia in connection with more than 100 telecom fraud cases. The other 20 Taiwan suspects had earlier been sent back to Taiwan.
The suspects are being held at two detention centers in Zhuhai.
At Saturday’s meeting, the mainland police agreed to arrange their families to visit as soon as possible.
Police on the mainland said they had obtained evidence and key information about four of the syndicates but an investigation into the fifth syndicate had encountered difficulties because the majority of its alleged members had been sent back to Taiwan.
They said their investigation had been jeopardized by “several masterminds and senior members” of these syndicates, who they believe to be Taiwan residents. They are at large, police said, and had destroyed evidence and moved funds.
The 20 Taiwan suspects returned to the island were temporarily released due to a lack of evidence on April 16 but five days later 18 of them were detained and two banned from traveling.
“The mainland will try to provide evidence to the Taiwan side so that they can crack the case as quickly as possible,” said Chen Shiqu, a senior police officer with the ministry.
“The money of the mainland victims is now in Taiwan. We hope the Taiwan side can actively pursue the scammed money so that we can return the money to victims,” he said.
Chen Wen-chi, who led the Taiwan delegation, confirmed that prosecutors in Taichung have been busy investigating the case and that evidence from the mainland would be greatly helpful.
“We will step up efforts to reach the bottom of this case and take the culprits to the court,” she said.
A number of fraud victims were in Zhuhai to petition the Taiwan delegation and call for better cooperation.
A 72-year-old woman surnamed Guo, from Beijing, said she lost money for the treatment of cancer due to one scam.
She said she had been cheated about 2 million yuan (US$307,000) in August and September last year.
“I just hope those crooks will be punished so no more people will be cheated,” she said.
A 38-year-old woman surnamed Luo from south China’s Hunan Province said she had been cheated out of around 120,000 yuan in March, a significant loss given that she just earns about 2,000 yuan a month.
“I hope Taiwan authorities can understand the pain I suffer and work with the mainland police to somehow recover our loss,” Luo said.
Chen said that Taiwan authorities will actively track the money and retrieve the funds.
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