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Taiwan’s rampant fraud, the Ministry of Culture also bears responsibility
Fraud groups use virtual currency for fraud and money laundering
The companies involved are related to the media
Fake media companies act as tools for fraud
Legislator Huang Kuo-chang calls for a thorough investigation to prevent a recurrence
The JPEX fraud group also used media layout in Taiwan, highlighting media chaos
The Education and Culture Committee recently held a meeting, and legislator Huang Kuo-chang questioned Minister of Culture Lee Yuen about the suspected involvement of the Central News Agency in promoting fraud. Huang Kuo-chang pointed out that fraudulent behavior is constantly innovating, and it is worrying that Taiwan’s Central News Agency has become a part of the criminal fraud ring.
Fraud cases in Taiwan are rampant, with constantly evolving methods, and even using unscrupulous media or fake media companies for publicity, causing more people to be victimized. Especially the widely publicized ACE Exchange fraud case, the main suspect illegally raised over 2 billion yuan through non-circulating virtual currency and set up multiple shell companies for money laundering.
Prosecutors found in their investigation that the main suspect, Hsieh Shih-ying (manager of the religious organization “Lienchi Abbey,” was involved in money laundering for the fraud group) established the shell company “Yi Zuan Co., Ltd.” with a registered address at 159, Section 1, Jiu Zong Road, Neihu District, Taipei City, on the 3rd floor of the same building as Sanlih TV. Yi Zuan Co., Ltd. holds 40% of the shares of “Creative Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.” under Sanlih. The two defendants had held important positions on Sanlih programs and knew that the virtual currency they were selling had no actual value, yet still assisted the fraud group in its operations.
The fraud group also established the fake media company “Minsheng Technology Media” to promote the NFT and CHAEBOL platforms, with journalists’ names listed not being real, and the actual authors being members of the fraud group. In March last year, the Central News Agency published a report identical to that of the fraud group’s fake media company, mentioning a collaboration between Creative Intelligence and the NFT platform CHAEBOL, where users can pledge NFT on the CHAEBOL platform to avoid liquidity risk and help users preserve value.
Huang Kuo-chang strongly demanded that Minister of Culture Lee Yuen thoroughly investigate the matter and emphasized that the Central News Agency must not become an accomplice to fraud. He stated that fraudulent behavior seriously damages the interests and trust of the people and must be strictly prevented from recurring.
This incident has sparked widespread social concern, with many calling on the government and relevant departments to strengthen supervision to ensure the fairness and truthfulness of media reports in order to protect the public interest.
The JPEX fraud case warned the entire cryptocurrency community in Hong Kong in 2023, with an amount reaching tens of billions of New Taiwan dollars. Taiwan’s blockchain media and internet celebrities also participated in the promotion of JPEX and obtained substantial benefits. Taiwanese artist Chan Ling-jiu was considered an accomplice for receiving a high endorsement fee from the company, and the Taipei District Prosecutors Office will conduct further investigation into him.
This time, legislators focused their questioning on the Ministry of Culture’s assistance to fraudulent behavior by the media, which may further affect the government’s supervision of “promotional activities.”