Taiwanese justice has detained 25 people and seized assets worth 4.527 billion Taiwanese dollars (about 146 million dollars) linked to the Prince Group, a conglomerate based in Cambodia accused by the United States of leading a transnational online fraud and money laundering network. In a statement released this Wednesday, the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office reported that the seized assets include eleven houses, 48 parking spaces, 26 luxury vehicles, and 60 bank accounts related to the network and to businessman Zhi Chen, chairman of the Prince Group, as part of investigations into money laundering, organized crime, gambling, and fraud in Taiwan. Last month, the governments of the U.S. and the United Kingdom imposed joint sanctions on the conglomerate and its top executive, accused of running a cybercriminal network and human trafficking, which led to the largest cryptocurrency seizure in history, with over 15 billion dollars in bitcoin confiscated. U.S. authorities claim that Chen was running a criminal empire under the umbrella of the Prince Group, forcing hundreds of trafficking victims to commit online fraud "on an industrial scale" from prison-like closed complexes in Cambodia. In connection with the case, the United States sanctioned nine companies and three Taiwanese citizens, which prompted the opening of an investigation into the group's operations in Taiwan. After two weeks of evidence gathering, this Tuesday, raids were conducted at 47 locations, including the residences of high-ranking officials and group members, which resulted in the arrest of 25 suspects and the summoning of ten witnesses to testify. "The investigation is ongoing to clarify all the facts," the prosecutor's statement concluded. Judicial cooperation with the U.S. In statements to the CNA news agency, Taiwan's Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang explained this Wednesday that Taiwan is cooperating with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Treasury, as well as with law enforcement in Cambodia and other countries in the investigation of international fraud networks, especially in the case of Zhi Chen, who has traveled to the island "on multiple occasions." She stated that because Chen has "multiple nationalities" and did not use his Cambodian passport when entering Taiwan, his tracking had been "difficult" in the past. Nevertheless, Liu emphasized that, in coordination with U.S. authorities, Taiwan will investigate "all flows of people and money, as well as related security aspects, to identify local partners or criminal groups," acting "without indulgence" and ensuring that those involved in these fraud networks "do not escape the punishment of the law."
