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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 fraud tools
Legislator Huang Kuo-chang calls for thorough investigation to prevent recurrence
The fraud group JPEX also used the media to highlight media chaos in Taiwan
The Education and Culture Committee recently held a meeting, and legislator Huang Kuo-chang questioned Minister of Culture Li Yuan about the accountability of the Central News Agency for allegedly becoming a platform for a fraud group. Huang Kuo-chang pointed out that fraud behavior continues to innovate, and it is worrying that Taiwan’s Central News Agency has become part of a fraud crime.
Fraud cases in Taiwan are rampant and the methods continue to innovate, even using unscrupulous media or fake media companies for promotion, causing more people to be victimized. Especially the widely publicized ACE Exchange fraud case, where the main suspect illegally raised over 2 billion yuan using virtual currency that cannot be circulated, and set up multiple front companies for money laundering.
Prosecutors found during the investigation that the main suspect, Xie Shiyin (manager of the religious organization “Lianchi Monastery” for the fraud group’s money laundering), set up the front company “Yizhuan 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 Sanli TV. Yizhuan Co., Ltd. holds 40% of the shares of “Create Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.” under Sanli. The two defendants had held important positions in Sanli’s programs and were aware that the virtual currency being sold had no actual value, yet they still assisted the fraud group in its operations.
The fraud group also set up 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 of last year, the Central News Agency actually published a report that was identical to the news content issued by the fraud group’s fake media company, which mentioned “Create Intelligent’s cooperation with NFT platform CHAEBOL, allowing users to pledge NFT on the CHAEBOL platform to avoid liquidity depletion risks and help users preserve value.”
Huang Kuo-chang strongly demanded that Minister of Culture Li Yuan thoroughly investigate the matter and emphasized that the Central News Agency must not become an accomplice to fraud. He said that fraud seriously damages the interests and trust of the people and must be strictly prevented from happening again.
This incident has aroused widespread attention in society, and many people are calling for the government and relevant departments to strengthen supervision to ensure the fairness and truthfulness of media reports in order to protect public interests.
The 2023 JPEX fraud case that was warned against by the Hong Kong regulators has shocked the entire cryptocurrency community in Hong Kong, involving amounts as high as several billion yuan. Taiwan’s blockchain media and internet celebrities also participated in JPEX’s promotion and obtained large profits. Taiwanese artist Chan Ling-jio is considered one of the accessories to the crime for receiving a high endorsement fee from the company, and the Northern Inspection will conduct further investigations.
This time, legislators have targeted the Ministry of Culture for questioning the media’s assistance in fraud, which may further affect the government’s regulation of “promotional activities.”