Former Xizhi Police Officer Sued for Selling Fake Intel to China; Lin Chenyou's Account Used for Funds

NEW TAIPEI, April 20 (CNA) - A former police officer from New Taipei City's Xizhi precinct has been indicted on charges of fraud and corruption for allegedly selling fake intelligence to Chinese contacts and using the police system to help creditors find people's addresses to collect debts. Prosecutors and police also discovered that Chinese contacts transferred funds to the officer through the account of CCTV reporter Lin Chenyou.

According to the indictment, Chen, who served at the Dongshan Police Station of the Xizhi Precinct of the New Taipei City Police Bureau, met a Chinese operative known as 'Sugar' online in June last year due to loan needs. In July, Sugar requested Chen to inquire whether the founder of Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi, had relatives in Taiwan and if police agencies were monitoring Falun Gong practitioners. Chen allegedly did not genuinely investigate or check entry records, but falsely claimed 'they have not come to Taiwan' and 'after asking many people, Falun Gong is not under police surveillance.' Believing this, Sugar transferred NT$2,000 to Chen through Lin Chenyou's account as payment.

Lin Chenyou was recently apprehended by the Pingtung District Prosecutors Office for involvement in a national security case, allegedly acting as a 'bagman' to provide money to active military personnel, who then handed over military data to Chinese individuals. He is currently detained and has been denied bail.

Lin stated during the investigation that he did not know Chen. He claimed that in 2023, he met a man on Instagram whose LINE nickname was Sugar. They collaborated on articles discussing cross-strait issues. This man would transfer virtual currency to his custodial wallet, which Lin would then convert to New Taiwan Dollars and remit to designated accounts, including Chen's.

In September last year, Chen attempted to defraud Sugar again with false intelligence, sending him a message stating that the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) had sent personnel to participate in a simulated battle exercise organized by the New Taipei City Fire Department, falsely claiming to know one of the AIT personnel. To create the illusion that his intelligence was valuable, Chen fabricated messages like 'If you don't want it, I'll give it to someone else' and 'Another financier is offering NT$10,000 for this.' However, Sugar replied, 'The financier says this stuff has no value,' and refused to purchase the intelligence.

Furthermore, between July and August last year, Chen used the police system to look up citizens' addresses and provided them to creditor Wang to assist in debt collection, receiving over NT$40,000 in return.

New Taipei prosecutors recently indicted Chen on charges of fraud and attempted fraud by abuse of official position under the anti-corruption statute, with aggravating circumstances for offenses by public officials under Article 134 of the Criminal Code.

Although Sugar continuously sought intelligence on Taiwan from Chen, prosecutors believed that Chen provided false information, which did not meet the elements of the National Security Act. Moreover, Chen had deleted all conversation messages containing sensitive information from his mobile phone. Based on the principle of 'doubt favors the accused,' it was difficult to establish a violation of the National Security Act.

The Xizhi Precinct stated that Chen was dismissed from his post after the incident, having received two major demerits. He was later granted bail of NT$200,000 by the court, with electronic monitoring imposed. The case will subsequently be handled by a jury system. (Editor: Wu Su-rou) 1150420

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