Four suspects have been arrested for allegedly defrauding victims out of more than NT$16 million (US$487,344) via “self-help programs,” the Criminal Investigation Bureau said on Friday.
The bureau said it launched an investigation in April after reports that a 66-year-old woman named Chang Shu-chun (張淑珺) was allegedly defrauding her students.
Chang, her husband and two assistants were handed over to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on suspicion of fraud and extortion, police said.
Screen grab from the Bureau’s Facebook page
Four students, who had allegedly beaten their fellow students under Chang’s instructions, were also sent to the prosecutors’ office on suspicion of causing bodily harm, they added.
Chang graduated from National Taipei College of Business, which is now known as the National Taipei University of Business, and has published two self-help books, police said.
She said she had trained in spiritual mentoring and set up “the cleansing academy of new heart human futurology” at a rented space in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) in 2009.
The facility operated along with a cafe and a massage parlor, and was aimed at people who were seeking therapy for issues such as cancer or workplace problems, or those who were eager to make a fortune, police said.
Chang allegedly said that the academy could cure diseases forever and help students earn a NT$10 million annual income, providing self-help or immersive English programs that cost NT$700,000 to NT$1 million each, they said.
Three students said Chang defrauded them of more than NT$16 million in total, police said.
Chang allegedly demanded that students obey her “unreasonable instructions,” including getting married to monitor each other or committing obscene acts in front of other students, police said, adding that students who refused would reportedly have to slap themselves in the face or kneel in apology, otherwise they would be beaten.
She also allegedly ordered students to work for her cafe and massage parlor when they could not afford the tuition and fined them for not washing a cup or sweeping leaves on the floor, police said.
Chang has denied the accusations that her programs were illicit, saying her instructions were part of the programs and the students had consented, adding that they could have left whenever they were unwilling to continue.
Police said Chang and her accomplices exploited the students for money and used peer pressure to form a closed group in the academy, where the students, stressed out and frightened, lost their sense of good judgement and could not escape their control.
Asked about the case, Taipei Counseling Psychologists Association chairperson Lan Yi-feng (藍挹丰) on Friday said there are only four different mental healthcare professionals in Taiwan: psychiatrists, counseling psychologists, clinical psychologists and social workers.
If someone says they are a mental therapy professional or that they can perform therapies despite their suspicious job titles, people could consult the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s “query system for medical personnel and facilities” or request relevant license numbers to check the truthfulness of their claims, she said.
It is normal to become mentally fragile in the face of diseases and life struggles, and to fall victim to deceitful remedies or therapies, Lan said, calling on those suffering not to blame themselves.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as