Taichung police on Wednesday arrested five people in connection with an alleged telecom fraud ring targeting Chinese by posing as police officials.
A 30-year-old man surnamed Lin (林) and alleged accomplices were arrested following a raid on a call center in an undisclosed location in the city, a spokesperson for the Taichung Police Department’s criminal investigation unit said.
Officers seized 18 cellphones, nine checkbooks, two laptops, drug-laced instant coffee packets, a BMW vehicle belonging to Lin and NT$1.53 million (US$47,592) in cash, police said.
Investigators also seized various objects apparently being used as lucky charms, including a blessed coin from a temple and a golden statue of a chicken, police said.
An investigation into the ring included months of surveillance, they said.
Lin is believed to have worked under an organized criminal group that provided him with telephone numbers of people in China, who the ring attempted to defraud by impersonating Chinese police, investigators said.
The suspects allegedly tricked targets into wiring money to bank accounts under the perpetrators’ control, and would transfer the calls through a fake police station as part of the ruse, police said.
The fraudsters were speaking on the phone with a target when officers raided the call center, they said.
The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office has obtained court approval to hold the suspects incommunicado to prevent collusion, police said.
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