Minister Cheng: Fraud Losses Down in Q1, Taiwan Prepares for APG Mutual Evaluation
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) held an international seminar on "Cross-Border Cooperation in the Age of Transnational Crime" on May 20. Minister Cheng Ming-chien announced that financial losses from fraud in the first quarter of this year decreased by 26.9% compared to the same period last year. He also stated that Taiwan will promote a new round of national risk assessments for money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing to prepare for the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) mutual evaluation.
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- 📰 Published: May 20, 2026 at 14:51
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The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) held a seminar today on "Cross-Border Cooperation in the Age of Transnational Crime," where Minister Cheng Ming-chien stated that financial losses from fraud in the first quarter of this year had decreased by 26.9% compared to the same period last year. He announced plans to promote a new round of national risk assessments for money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing, and to prepare for the APG mutual evaluation.
The MOJ, the Executive Yuan's Anti-Money Laundering Office, and the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office are jointly hosting the two-day international seminar, titled "Cross-Border Cooperation in the Age of Transnational Crime—Focusing on Combating Fraud, from Investigative Techniques to Mutual Legal Assistance," starting today.
The seminar features Mohammed Shahid Ahmed, Vice Chair of the Egmont Group and Chief of Staff of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, who plays a crucial role in international cooperation and information sharing for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. He is in Taiwan to deliver a keynote speech.
Additionally, international experts from Poland, France, Germany, Estonia, the Philippines, the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), spanning Europe, Asia, America, and Africa, were invited. They are joined by domestic experts and scholars from prosecutorial agencies, the MOJ's Investigation Bureau, the Criminal Investigation Bureau, and the Financial Supervisory Commission to exchange practical experiences on strengthening cross-border judicial cooperation, tech-based investigations, combating money laundering crimes involving virtual assets, and using artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance technological investigation of fraud crimes.
Lin Ming-hsin, Minister without Portfolio of the Executive Yuan, stated in his address that in recent years, concrete results have been gradually achieved in areas such as seizing criminal proceeds, protecting victims, and investigating cross-border crimes. He cited the Taipei District Prosecutors Office's investigation into the "Prince Group" transnational money laundering case and the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office's "Suspicious Account Early Warning Mechanism" as examples reflecting how inter-agency cooperation, financial intelligence analysis, and technology application have become key models for combating cross-border crime and illicit financial flows.
Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien said that as emerging technologies reshape criminal patterns, cross-border cooperation has become the core of combating fraud. He emphasized that the MOJ will continue to strengthen international mutual legal assistance and improve the legal framework to provide frontline law enforcement with effective tools, comprehensively curb cross-border fraud and money laundering, and establish a milestone in borderless crime-fighting.
Cheng pointed out that the abuse of virtual assets and the high-speed movement of cross-border funds pose significant challenges to traditional investigation methods. The MOJ continues to align its anti-money laundering system with international standards. In the future, the government will promote a new round of national risk assessments for money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing, and prepare for the fifth round of global mutual evaluation by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) in 2030, demonstrating its resolve to deepen governance resilience and international cooperation.
According to MOJ statistics, thanks to the efforts of the national anti-fraud team, the amount of financial loss reported by the public in the first quarter of 2026 decreased by 26.9% compared to the same period last year, and the number of telecom fraud cases also dropped by 9.1%, indicating that the fraud trend is gradually slowing down. In terms of asset recovery, nearly NT$3.1 billion was returned to victims through mediation from last year to March of this year. In 2025, the total seized criminal proceeds exceeded NT$11.3 billion, highlighting the significant results of victim protection and asset recovery policies.
Finally, Cheng thanked the frontline prosecutors, police, and investigators for their hard work and stated that the MOJ, as the lead agency for "punishing fraud," will continue to be a strong supporter of law enforcement units. In the future, through a combined approach of criminal investigation and administrative supervision, the ministry will refine anti-fraud methods and strategies to make the public more aware of the government's determination to fight crime, and will continue to deepen ties with the international community to jointly protect the people's property rights.
The MOJ, the Executive Yuan's Anti-Money Laundering Office, and the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office are jointly hosting the two-day international seminar, titled "Cross-Border Cooperation in the Age of Transnational Crime—Focusing on Combating Fraud, from Investigative Techniques to Mutual Legal Assistance," starting today.
The seminar features Mohammed Shahid Ahmed, Vice Chair of the Egmont Group and Chief of Staff of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, who plays a crucial role in international cooperation and information sharing for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. He is in Taiwan to deliver a keynote speech.
Additionally, international experts from Poland, France, Germany, Estonia, the Philippines, the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), spanning Europe, Asia, America, and Africa, were invited. They are joined by domestic experts and scholars from prosecutorial agencies, the MOJ's Investigation Bureau, the Criminal Investigation Bureau, and the Financial Supervisory Commission to exchange practical experiences on strengthening cross-border judicial cooperation, tech-based investigations, combating money laundering crimes involving virtual assets, and using artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance technological investigation of fraud crimes.
Lin Ming-hsin, Minister without Portfolio of the Executive Yuan, stated in his address that in recent years, concrete results have been gradually achieved in areas such as seizing criminal proceeds, protecting victims, and investigating cross-border crimes. He cited the Taipei District Prosecutors Office's investigation into the "Prince Group" transnational money laundering case and the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office's "Suspicious Account Early Warning Mechanism" as examples reflecting how inter-agency cooperation, financial intelligence analysis, and technology application have become key models for combating cross-border crime and illicit financial flows.
Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien said that as emerging technologies reshape criminal patterns, cross-border cooperation has become the core of combating fraud. He emphasized that the MOJ will continue to strengthen international mutual legal assistance and improve the legal framework to provide frontline law enforcement with effective tools, comprehensively curb cross-border fraud and money laundering, and establish a milestone in borderless crime-fighting.
Cheng pointed out that the abuse of virtual assets and the high-speed movement of cross-border funds pose significant challenges to traditional investigation methods. The MOJ continues to align its anti-money laundering system with international standards. In the future, the government will promote a new round of national risk assessments for money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing, and prepare for the fifth round of global mutual evaluation by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) in 2030, demonstrating its resolve to deepen governance resilience and international cooperation.
According to MOJ statistics, thanks to the efforts of the national anti-fraud team, the amount of financial loss reported by the public in the first quarter of 2026 decreased by 26.9% compared to the same period last year, and the number of telecom fraud cases also dropped by 9.1%, indicating that the fraud trend is gradually slowing down. In terms of asset recovery, nearly NT$3.1 billion was returned to victims through mediation from last year to March of this year. In 2025, the total seized criminal proceeds exceeded NT$11.3 billion, highlighting the significant results of victim protection and asset recovery policies.
Finally, Cheng thanked the frontline prosecutors, police, and investigators for their hard work and stated that the MOJ, as the lead agency for "punishing fraud," will continue to be a strong supporter of law enforcement units. In the future, through a combined approach of criminal investigation and administrative supervision, the ministry will refine anti-fraud methods and strategies to make the public more aware of the government's determination to fight crime, and will continue to deepen ties with the international community to jointly protect the people's property rights.