The chairman of Taichung Commercial Bank, Wang Guifeng, and his partners were recently accused of embezzling over 1 billion New Taiwan dollars from the bank and its insurance brokerage company for their luxurious personal lives, including purchasing supercars, luxury cars, and mansions, causing a scandal in the financial industry. The case was prosecuted by the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office on multiple charges and has undergone a series of searches and detentions.
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Embezzlement of up to 1 billion New Taiwan dollars from Taichung Commercial Bank and the insurance brokerage company
Seizure of a large number of luxury cars, jewelry, and other luxury goods
The main suspects were released on bail of 15 million New Taiwan dollars
A single point of failure in a man-made system?
During Wang Guifeng’s tenure as the head of Taichung Commercial Bank and its wholly-owned subsidiary Taichung Bank Insurance Brokerage Company, he was accused of abusing his authority and embezzling funds to purchase luxury cars, supercars, and even private jets. Starting in 2014, these funds were used to lease luxury vehicles and used in the personal name, resulting in losses of over 200 million New Taiwan dollars for both companies.
From 2014 to 2018, Wang Guifeng, along with Lai Lizhi from Taichung Bank Insurance Brokerage Company and Zhou Zhenan, the actual person in charge of Extreme Leasing Company, embezzled a total of 1 billion New Taiwan dollars from the companies under the pretext of sponsoring advertisements, renting private guesthouses, etc.
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During the investigation, the prosecutor’s office confiscated a variety of luxury goods, including Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and other luxury cars, as well as a large number of red wines, cigars, watches, and jewelry. These pieces of evidence demonstrate Wang Guifeng and his partners’ extravagant lifestyle.
According to reports, the investigation team of the Mobile Task Force in the northern region of the Investigation Bureau seized two Rolls-Royce Phantoms, one Aston Martin Zagato, one Rapide, one Mercedes-Benz S600, one Mercedes-Benz S500, one BMW 740, two Harley-Davidson motorcycles, 162 bottles of red wine, thousands of cigars, watches from Breguet and Rolex, and over 50 financial accounts.
Seized luxury goods (Image source: Investigation Bureau)
After a night of court hearings, Wang Guifeng was released on bail of 15 million New Taiwan dollars by the New Taipei District Court, while the other two main suspects, Lai Lizhi and Zhou Zhenan, were released on bail of 3 million and 8 million New Taiwan dollars respectively. In addition, the prosecutor’s office conducted a large-scale search operation, confiscating a large amount of property and financial accounts, and restricting the defendants’ residence and exit rights.
The blockchain community, which advocates for decentralization, often worries about the single point of failure brought by the centralized organization of traditional finance. This case is one such example.
The embezzlement of funds by senior bank officials refers to the illegal use of bank resources by internal personnel for personal consumption or investment, which violates laws and professional ethics. Such behavior may cause serious damage to the financial security and reputation of the bank and may result in legal consequences and penalties from regulatory authorities.
The solution proposed by the blockchain community is to enhance automation, transparency, and collective supervision through institutional reforms to reduce the impact of single points of failure in traditional systems.
(Extended reading:
The Cryptocurrency Field Focused on “Money” Should Not Ignore Broader Developments
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Taichung Commercial Bank
Taichung Bank
Zhou Zhenan
Wang Guifeng
Lai Lizhi
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