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Taiwan Illegal Gambling Rings Witness More than NT$1 Billion in Less than a Year

Gambling raids throughout Taiwan have recently given results as a major illegal gambling ring based in Taoyuan was busted by the National Criminal Investigation Bureau resulting in the arrest of two individuals responsible for the operation of the organization. Over the span of the past 6 months only the fraudulent network was able to generate a total of NT$1 billion in illegally placed online wagers.

The special municipality of Taoyuan City in northwestern Taiwan is where the illegal operation was headquartered, providing criminals with the benefits of a metropolitan area. The first days of this month brought the police raid in Zhongli District, aiming to shed more light onto the illegal operations currently taking place. Several individuals suspected in overseeing the management of this particular illegal operation in the area were arrested by the authorities and among them were the two actual leaders of the illegal ring.

These individuals were publicly listed with their surnames only – Peng and Hsu, and according to the information they were the kingpins behind the well-developed and professionally managed illegal organization. The gambling raid took in the residence that was later confirmed to belong to the criminal called Peng. Over the span of the operation, officers were able to obtain machines utilized for counting money, computers facilitating the operation, as well as mobile phones for keeping in touch.

Illegal Operation Worth a Billion

Since the illegal ring proved to be quite large, there were also account books available on site, as well as a total of NT$1.72 million in cash also captured during the raid. Online gambling was the main objective of the criminal’s operation, as confirmed by Fourth Investigation Corps Captain Chang Yao-han. Upon investigation, it became clear that operation was linked to the well-known Beijing Auto Racing PK10 website, listed in China.

Individuals interested in online gaming are most likely to utilize its offerings, making it a popular destination for gambling enthusiasts willing to bet. Featuring a web page as well as an app, this location was easily accessible for anyone willing to spend time with its offerings. It has on offer special prizes for wagering on sports tournaments, as well as online lottery, bingo, and virtual auto racing games. All of them enjoy quite the attention of gamblers across the region of Taiwan.

The criminal ring in Taoyuan was related to the Chinese site and according to the unearthed information following the raid, a single week of operation was able to bring the kingpins a windfall of NT$20 million. However, upon his arrest by the police officers, Mr. Hsu claimed to be no other than the branch manager for the Chinese web page. His position in the structure of the network is also managing one, but with an illegal nuance to it.

According to him, the ring was not as profitable as the authorities ended up estimating, but instead, it witnessed wagers of NT$10 million throughout its entire operation. Mr. Hsu also added that none of the wagered cash was personally handled by any of the arrested individuals, as they were eligible to receive only a commission for their devoted work as part of a previously arranged profit-distribution agreement.

Raids Witness Success throughout Past Several Weeks

In other news, the region of Taoyuan also witnessed the recent arrest of two more individuals which were managing a fraudulent scheme for acquiring account data of Taiwanese players. The criminals listed as Mr. Chang and Mr. Lan were able to attract players with the promises of obtaining value points and various credit perks.

According to the investigation performed by the authorities, the transfers which took place under the supervision of the two criminals reached NH$181.8 million. They were both released on bails ranging from NT$50,000 to NT$100,000. Raids across the country continue with full throttle since gaming in Taiwan is considered strictly illegal according to the Criminal Code of the Republic of China.



 Author: Hannah Wallace

Hannah Wallace has been part of our team since the website was launched. She has a master’s degree in IT.
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