The main suspect Lin Genghong of the fraud gang defends innovative nonfraud in court appearing more arrogant than the media
Taipei District Prosecutors officially filed a lawsuit on April 26th. Following lawyer Wang Chen-huan’s appearance in court, Taipei District Court held its first hearing on June 6th, interrogating Lin Geng-hong for the first time. Lin denied the charges in court, emphasizing that the creation of virtual currency was done with the highest standards and utmost rigor, aimed at innovation, and not at defrauding others.
Lin Geng-hong claimed that his operation was legal and conducted by a team with professional knowledge. The lawyers argued that if the intention was really to commit fraud, they would not have gone through such complex procedures. The prosecution accused them of fraudulent practices and concealing financial flows.
Lin Geng-hong, under the name of “Qianqiao Team,” sold virtual currencies such as IBcoin, which formed the basis of his defense in this case. He mentioned that prosecutors in previous cases had informed him that virtual currencies could be traded, hence he sought the assistance of ABA Accelerator founder Pan Yizhang, who received subsidies from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and KPMG-advised leading exchanges to professionalize blockchain and virtual currency-related businesses.
According to reports, Lin Geng-hong even arrogantly made a “YA” gesture as he got off the prison car. The defense lawyers emphasized that the IMBA community was not created as a criminal organization for fraud but had proper record-keeping for all funds and did not have any intentions of concealment or disguise.
The prosecution accused Lin Geng-hong, Pan Yizhang, and Lin Ruqiao of knowing that virtual currencies such as MOCT, CSO, FITC, NFTC, and BNAT were essentially just codes with low minting costs and no practical application prospects. They allegedly defrauded unspecified individuals of approximately NT$800 million by forming IMBA direct sales teams and branches to promote virtual currencies using misinformation and price manipulation tactics.
Lin Geng-hong and others instructed subordinates to transport and hide illicit gains in various locations in Taipei and New Taipei City, totaling over NT$100 million. Some of the proceeds were used to purchase and operate the Yilan “Lotus Sanctuary” real estate as a money laundering base. Additionally, NT$43 million was handed over to Wang Chen-huan, with NT$26 million used as capital for the leading exchange and NT$17 million as investment in a Bangkok law firm, creating breakpoints in the financial flow to disguise and conceal specific criminal proceeds for money laundering.
