Two men were taken into custody in Taichung yesterday over an alleged illegal loan scheme targeting university students.
Police said that people were allegedly given NT$5,000 in cash to sign a “loan installment payment plan,” but wound up owing much more to a financial company.
Taichung prosecutors said that they coordinated with city police to apprehend the two suspects, a 27-year-old salesman and his manager, 34, both surnamed Lin (林).
Photo: Taipei Times
The two Lins approached students on university campuses, initially targeting Feng Chia University, urging them to buy computers or smartphones through a loan scheme with no credit card required, prosecutors said.
They offered NT$5,000 cash for signing the contract, with promises of a further NT$3,000 for each fellow student they convinced to sign up, they said.
“Many students signed up and persuaded their friends to do the same,” a police investigator said. “Many people were victimized because they lacked experience in dealing with wider society. The operators preyed on students seeking small loans and easy payments to upgrade to high-end computers and mobile phones.”
However, the students this month began to receive debt payment notices in the mail, as the Lins sold the contracts to a financial company, the officer said.
The students who had signed contracts reported owing NT$50,000 to NT$150,000, they said.
Taichung police said that more than 300 people linked to about a dozen colleges in the region have been affected, including students at Feng Chia, Providence University, Tunghai University, National Taichung University of Science and Technology, Chienkuo Technology University in Changhua County and National Formosa University in Yunlin County.
One student told police that he signed up because could receive N$5,000 cash right away and get more money by signing up fellow students.
Salesman Lin promised it was just a simple transaction and that the contract would not be transferred, the student told police.
Taichung police said that they had questioned the two Lins and obtained warrants to search their residences, where they allegedly found signed loan contracts.
Police said that they seized three computers, 22 mobile phones, 18 bank books, cash and signed purchase agreements for electronics.
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