Taiwan Jin Long Tech Co owner Tseng Yao-feng (曾耀鋒) yesterday was found guilty of contravening the Banking Act (銀行法) and the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防治法) and sentenced to 16 years and six months in prison.
Tseng, who is affiliated with the Four Seas Gang, used his father’s identity to create Jin Long Tech, said the Taipei District Court, which also fined him NT$2.5 million (US$76,308).
The company is the principal creator of the im.B real-estate loaning platform, which offers real-estate mortgaging and remortgaging, the court said.
Photo: CNA
The platform also offers discounts, but in reality it is a scamming tool that in seven years has lured thousands of people to invest NT$9 billion, it said.
The company also illegally used an image of media personality Sheng Chu-ju (盛竹如) to falsely create the impression that Sheng endorsed the platform, the court said.
Sheng was not involved in the ring and was not indicted alongside Tseng and others in August last year, it said.
The platform in 2021 started refusing requests to cash out and stopped paying interest by April last year, causing investors to start asking questions, the court said.
Employees of im.B studied the company’s records and ascertained that more than 95 percent of the bonds it promoted were fake, the court said.
At a rough count, more than 10,000 people were affected, with 5,000 joining a self-help group, the court said, adding that 537 individuals have filed joint litigation against the company.
A victim surnamed Tsao (曹) had invested NT$12 million, but recuperated only NT$1 million in interest, it said.
Tseng admitted to selling falsified bonds since 2019, but denied contravening the Banking Act, the court said.
He told the court that the funds primarily went toward paying interest, cash bonuses for platform managers and other expenses, it said.
Prosecutors said that Tseng and his girlfriend, Chang Shu-fen (張淑芬), had not told them everything about the company’s cash flow and structure.
Moreover, Tseng’s statements differed from those of his accomplices, prosecutors said.
The judge said that if Tseng worked with investigators, including telling them where the illicit proceeds had gone, and was willing to compensate victims, the court would offer him a reduced sentence.
Former Executive Yuan consultant Chen Chen-kun (陳振坤), an accomplice, was found guilty of contravening the Money Laundering Control Act and sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for four years, and fined NT$1.5 million.
Chen was ordered to pay the state an additional NT$1 million and illegal proceeds of NT$12,000 were confiscated.
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