TAIPEI: Taipei prosecutors on Wednesday (Mar 4) indicted 62 people linked to the Prince Group, a multinational network accused of running a vast network of scam centres, including the company’s chairman, who was arrested and deported to China from Cambodia earlier this year.
Chen Zhi, who founded the conglomerate the US alleges is a front for a multibillion-dollar online fraud and money laundering operation, was pictured by Chinese state media hooded and handcuffed as he was led off a plane at a Beijing airport in January.
Taipei prosecutors said in a statement that Taiwan was one of the locations where Chen had funnelled illicit funds via shell companies, buying luxury goods, sports cars and real estate.
“This was done to conceal and disguise the source and flow of the criminal proceeds,” it said.
The funds remitted into Taiwan from overseas by members of the group for alleged money-laundering purposes totalled around NT$10.8 billion (US$339.12 million), where they bought 24 properties, 35 vehicles, and held NT$55.53 million in other assets such as cash, designer bags, and shoes, the statement said.
More than NT$5.5 billion in assets have been seized in Taiwan, the prosecutors’ office added.
Chen’s whereabouts are currently unknown and it was not possible to contact him for comment.
In November, the Prince Group denied any wrongdoing in a statement issued via a US law firm.
On Monday, Taiwan put 33 luxury cars, including Ferraris, up for auction after they were seized as part of the investigation.
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