“Lenient Punishments for Fraudsters: Lawyers and Police Officers Changing Careers” – Public Calls for Government to Establish Debt Recovery National Team Revealing Rampant Financial Fraud in Taiwan

In recent years, Taiwan has been plagued by large-scale financial fraud cases. From the imB, Exhibitor Cloud, Aofeng Fund, Wuhu Longhai to the Baifu cases, the number of victims has accumulated to tens of thousands, involving amounts as high as several billion Taiwanese dollars. The victims of these financial fraud cases recently united to make a strong appeal to the Legislative Yuan, hoping that the government can amend the law to increase the crackdown and establish a dedicated “Debt Recovery National Team” to help victims recover their losses.

Contents
Toggle
“Fraudsters are too lightly punished!” Victims appeal for government reforms
Amendment to establish management regulations
Increased punishment for financial fraud
Establishment of a Debt Recovery National Team
High returns and low risks for fraudsters: Lawyers/police officers/engineers are all involved
Public hopes for government response

In the Exhibitor Cloud case, the number of victims reached 9,832, with a total of over 18.2 billion Taiwanese dollars raised nationwide. The Victims’ Self-Help Association proposed amending the Funeral Management Regulations, including banning the sale of tower graves with only perpetual usage rights, and requiring funeral facilities to include land ownership and full trust management.

The Baifu and Aofeng cases involved fundraising scales of 18 billion and nearly 200 billion Taiwanese dollars respectively, causing thousands of people to lose their entire fortunes and even leading to suicides. The Victims’ Self-Help Association strongly demands that the judicial department severely punish illegal activities, increase the length of sentences, and investigate illegal gains and related assets.

Representatives of the five self-help associations pointed out that the cost of fraud is currently too low, and many highly educated individuals even choose to join fraud groups. They demand that the government not only have a “national team” to combat fraud but also establish a “Debt Recovery National Team” specifically responsible for recovering victims’ losses and strictly implementing procedures for investigating and seizing illegal assets.

These cases reflect that fraud has become a high-return, low-risk industry in Taiwan. Even lawyers, engineers, and police officers, who are high-paid professionals, choose to give up their original jobs and join fraud groups. Representatives of the victims bluntly stated that the current punishment for fraud crimes is too lenient, providing enough incentives for criminals to continue engaging in such illegal activities.

Many white-collar workers have turned to fraud activities, mainly due to the relatively light sentences for fraud—only three to seven years of imprisonment with the possibility of parole. In addition, fraudsters can easily conceal their illegal gains and operate through the establishment of investment companies, the use of virtual currency accounts, or the use of bank accounts under others’ names, making the legal tracking and fund seizure process cumbersome and difficult. The low bail amount set allows suspects to choose to flee after being released on bail without facing further legal sanctions. At the same time, these criminals use their illegal gains to hire lawyers for defense, while victims find it difficult to seek legal compensation due to insufficient funds.

(
Kaohsiung police officer involved in billion-dollar virtual currency fraud group, breakthrough in the case by the prosecutor’s office
)
(
Scammer Lin Genghong and model lawyer Wang Chenhuan are the masterminds of the aircoin fraud, Pan Yizhang is the person in charge of identity fraud
)

The appeal of the victims has aroused widespread attention from all sectors of society. Whether the government will take more stringent measures to combat financial fraud and whether it can successfully establish a “Debt Recovery National Team” that can effectively help victims recover their losses has become the focus of public attention. The general public hopes that the government can take substantive actions to fundamentally solve the problem of financial fraud and protect the property security of the people.

(
New Taipei Police Bureau’s “Operation Cut-off” yields remarkable results, arresting over a hundred members of fraud gangs and seizing nearly 200 million virtual currencies
)
(
The Financial Supervisory Commission targets the coin circle investment consultants! P1trader/TCDAO claims to be the world’s number one Binance contract, listed as an illegal securities investment consultant
)
imB
Wuhu Longhai
Aofeng Fund
Baifu
fraud
cloud

Further reading
Valve President reveals reasons why Steam does not support cryptocurrencies and NFTs: 50% of past transactions were fraudulent, NFTs exploit users
US New Jersey Securities Exchange terminates two ICO projects, accusing them of fraud.