Taiwanese law enforcement agencies working in concert with their US counterparts have busted an international prostitution ring, which allegedly had a female proprietor surnamed Tai (戴) heading up the operation to supply escorts, and several suspects were taken in for questioning by prosecutors yesterday.
Judicial officials said the prostitution ring allegedly contravened international laws against human trafficking, because an investigation revealed that some of the call girls flew to China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, the US and Australia to provide sexual services or as “business trip companions,” mostly for businessmen and other wealthy clientele.
Three women with alleged involvement were summoned for questioning at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Tuesday night, including the female proprietor, Tai Chun-yi (戴君儀), model agency manager Chung Yi-tzu (鍾宜姿) and Johanne Liou (劉喬安), whose good looks led the local media to dub her the “Sunflower Queen” during her participation in the Sunflower movement last year.
Photo: screen grab from FaceBook
After questioning, the three, who prosecutors suspected of violating the Human Trafficking Prevention Act (人口販運防制法), were released yesterday morning with bail set at NT$500,000 (US$15,297), NT$250,000 and NT$50,000 respectively.
The prosecutors followed up by summoning a number of suspects and witnesses for questioning yesterday afternoon, who included a female model who starred as the lead and spokesperson in an advertising campaign for a computer game, and other models and starlets said to be working in the entertainment industry.
Because some of the women said they were not working of their own free will and had been threatened, the investigation has proceeded based on the suspicion that Tai, Liou and others were engaged in cross-border human trafficking.
Reports said US authorities informed Taiwan of the ring’s existence through the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).
In response to media queries, AIT official Joseph Bookbinder said he would not comment on individual cases, but he did say that Taiwan and the US work together to fight crime.
Officials at the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said that after a tip-off by US agencies, they monitored Tai’s activities and financial transactions for the past six months, before concluding that Tai operated the ring in Taiwan, but with powerful backers and the real masterminds in China.
Officials said Tai provided Taiwanese starlets, models and showgirls as “business trip companions” for wealthy clientele from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and also for overseas Chinese living in US, Australia and other countries.
It is reported the sex workers sometimes spent between three days and a week abroad, with their clients paying between NT$500,000 and NT$2 million, and would also usually pay for business-class airfare tickets, five-star hotel billets, restaurant dining and other expenses for the escorts during their trips.
CIB officials said Tai would receive a 50 percent commission for each of the transactions, and estimated that she had made more than NT$100 million in the past year.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
RSS