Pingtung Prosecutors Uncover Fraud Syndicate's Money Laundering Chain: Influencer's Apparel Store Laundered Over NT$100 Million
The Pingtung District Prosecutors Office dismantled a fraud syndicate's money laundering operation that laundered over NT$146 million in eight months using anonymous social media and cryptocurrencies. An influencer, surnamed Wu, used an apparel store as a front to facilitate the money laundering, leading to the arrest and prosecution of 21 individuals.
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- 📰 Published: April 21, 2026 at 16:06
- 🔍 Collected: April 21, 2026 at 16:31 (25 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 21, 2026 at 19:46 (3h 14m after Collected)
Central News Agency
(Central News Agency reporter Huang Yu-ching, Pingtung County, 21st) The Pingtung District Prosecutors Office uncovered a fraud syndicate's money laundering chain, which laundered over NT$146 million in eight months using anonymous social media software and borderless virtual currency. Among them, the "chief money launderer" (大帳房) was surprisingly an influencer surnamed Wu, who used a trendy T-shirt apparel store as a cover to assist the fraud syndicate in money laundering.
The Pingtung District Prosecutors Office today issued a press release stating that the Pingtung Prosecutors Office commanded the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of the Interior and the Neipu Precinct of the Pingtung County Government Police Bureau, among other units, to launch four waves of enforcement actions starting from July 2024. A total of 21 defendants were successively detained, and a new type of fraud mule and money laundering group was uncovered, clarifying the NT$146 million money laundering profit-sharing mechanism, and subsequently prosecuting them according to law.
The Pingtung Prosecutors Office pointed out that after clearing the flow of funds and withdrawal records of the victims' remittances, at least 187 victims were found to have been defrauded. After the special task force identified multiple cash withdrawal mules, several search and arrest operations were launched, successively apprehending two mule groups, each with more than 10 members, and seizing relevant evidence such as ATM cards and communication equipment.
After further questioning and cross-referencing communication records and financial flow data, the prosecutors and police traced and apprehended the core cadres of the money laundering operation, surnamed Lin and Liu. Liu was responsible for contacting overseas fraud centers by going abroad and obtaining information on dummy accounts from overseas, which was then handed over to Lin to command his team of mules to perform physical cash withdrawals in Taiwan. After Lin gathered his team of mules to withdraw cash, it was then handed over to Liu to exchange for Tether, and the illicit funds were transferred to upstream members through a virtual currency wallet transaction model.
According to the Pingtung Prosecutors Office, Liu and Lin reconciled the cash withdrawals by the mules daily, and then exchanged them for Tether. After deducting approximately 7% for the mules' team's deserved remuneration, the remaining approximately 93% of Tether was transferred to the virtual currency wallet of the influencer surnamed Wu. After Wu deducted approximately 1% as his own remuneration, the remaining approximately 92% of Tether was transferred to the virtual currency wallet of the overseas fraud syndicate's mastermind, "Second Generation Thin."
The Southern Crime Fighting Center of the Criminal Investigation Bureau pointed out that the influencer surnamed Wu outwardly used an apparel store as a cover, but in reality operated a virtual currency money laundering operation, assisting the fraud syndicate in money laundering. From October 2023 to June 2024, a total of 4,894,411 Tether, valued at approximately NT$146,832,330 in illicit fraud proceeds, passed through his hands, from which he received approximately NT$1.6 million in remuneration.
The Southern Crime Fighting Center explained that Wu collaborated with overseas fraud syndicates, first by posting home-based work advertisements on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to attract job seekers to add them on LINE for inquiries. Then, under the guise of processing salary transfers, they deceived job seekers into providing their bank accounts and ATM cards to be used as dummy accounts for receiving illicit funds from "fake investment, fake dating, and installment payment cancellation" scams, and commanded several mule groups to withdraw cash in multiple counties and cities in southern Taiwan.
The Pingtung Prosecutors Office mentioned that during the various operations, over NT$2.46 million in cash, real estate under the suspects' names, luxury cars, high-priced luxury goods, and tools for committing crimes were seized. The entire case, including those prosecuted in separate batches, additionally prosecuted, and investigated in other cases, involves a total of 36 members, including cloud-based money laundering operations, cross-border intermediary core members, and mule teams. (Editor: Lee Shu-hua) 1150421
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(Central News Agency reporter Huang Yu-ching, Pingtung County, 21st) The Pingtung District Prosecutors Office uncovered a fraud syndicate's money laundering chain, which laundered over NT$146 million in eight months using anonymous social media software and borderless virtual currency. Among them, the "chief money launderer" (大帳房) was surprisingly an influencer surnamed Wu, who used a trendy T-shirt apparel store as a cover to assist the fraud syndicate in money laundering.
The Pingtung District Prosecutors Office today issued a press release stating that the Pingtung Prosecutors Office commanded the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of the Interior and the Neipu Precinct of the Pingtung County Government Police Bureau, among other units, to launch four waves of enforcement actions starting from July 2024. A total of 21 defendants were successively detained, and a new type of fraud mule and money laundering group was uncovered, clarifying the NT$146 million money laundering profit-sharing mechanism, and subsequently prosecuting them according to law.
The Pingtung Prosecutors Office pointed out that after clearing the flow of funds and withdrawal records of the victims' remittances, at least 187 victims were found to have been defrauded. After the special task force identified multiple cash withdrawal mules, several search and arrest operations were launched, successively apprehending two mule groups, each with more than 10 members, and seizing relevant evidence such as ATM cards and communication equipment.
After further questioning and cross-referencing communication records and financial flow data, the prosecutors and police traced and apprehended the core cadres of the money laundering operation, surnamed Lin and Liu. Liu was responsible for contacting overseas fraud centers by going abroad and obtaining information on dummy accounts from overseas, which was then handed over to Lin to command his team of mules to perform physical cash withdrawals in Taiwan. After Lin gathered his team of mules to withdraw cash, it was then handed over to Liu to exchange for Tether, and the illicit funds were transferred to upstream members through a virtual currency wallet transaction model.
According to the Pingtung Prosecutors Office, Liu and Lin reconciled the cash withdrawals by the mules daily, and then exchanged them for Tether. After deducting approximately 7% for the mules' team's deserved remuneration, the remaining approximately 93% of Tether was transferred to the virtual currency wallet of the influencer surnamed Wu. After Wu deducted approximately 1% as his own remuneration, the remaining approximately 92% of Tether was transferred to the virtual currency wallet of the overseas fraud syndicate's mastermind, "Second Generation Thin."
The Southern Crime Fighting Center of the Criminal Investigation Bureau pointed out that the influencer surnamed Wu outwardly used an apparel store as a cover, but in reality operated a virtual currency money laundering operation, assisting the fraud syndicate in money laundering. From October 2023 to June 2024, a total of 4,894,411 Tether, valued at approximately NT$146,832,330 in illicit fraud proceeds, passed through his hands, from which he received approximately NT$1.6 million in remuneration.
The Southern Crime Fighting Center explained that Wu collaborated with overseas fraud syndicates, first by posting home-based work advertisements on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to attract job seekers to add them on LINE for inquiries. Then, under the guise of processing salary transfers, they deceived job seekers into providing their bank accounts and ATM cards to be used as dummy accounts for receiving illicit funds from "fake investment, fake dating, and installment payment cancellation" scams, and commanded several mule groups to withdraw cash in multiple counties and cities in southern Taiwan.
The Pingtung Prosecutors Office mentioned that during the various operations, over NT$2.46 million in cash, real estate under the suspects' names, luxury cars, high-priced luxury goods, and tools for committing crimes were seized. The entire case, including those prosecuted in separate batches, additionally prosecuted, and investigated in other cases, involves a total of 36 members, including cloud-based money laundering operations, cross-border intermediary core members, and mule teams. (Editor: Lee Shu-hua) 1150421
Choose to stand with facts, every sponsorship you make is a force to protect press freedom.
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The text, images, and audio-visual content of this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, or publicly transmitted and used without authorization.