China, Taiwan Nab 450 Suspects In Biggest Fraud Raid Ever

Taiwan and China police nabbed 450 suspects last week in the largest-ever joint crackdown on fraud rings operating on the both sides of the Taiwan Strait, according to Taiwan police.

Criminal Investigation Bureau Director Lin Teh-hua told wire services that the raids were launched simultaneously in Taiwan's 12 counties and cities and the Chinese provinces of Fujian, Huanan, Hubei, Anhui, Guangdong and Guangxi, and in Chongqing City.

Some 548 Taiwanese law enforcement officers and 2,720 Chinese police took part in the operation, according to the wire report.

In Taiwan, 121 people were arrested and more than $340,000, believed to be swindled funds, was seized. Items such as computers, cell phones, servers, forged official seals, fake courier uniforms, pistols, "manuals" on fraud, and bank books were also confiscated.

Across the strait, Chinese police officers arrested 329 suspects and seized similar items that were believed to have been used in the operations of the fraud rings.

Taiwan police said that fraud rings usually swindle people by posing as prosecutors, failing to deliver goods bought on websites, convincing victims to remit money via ATMs, and delivering only empty boxes to people who purchased goods.

Lin said that police units on both sides of the strait had previously arrested more than 1,000 scammers in 16 joint raids since an agreement on cross-strait cooperation in crime fighting was signed last year.

Notably, Lin said, operators of several telecommunications companies in Taiwan and China, which helped transmit calls in cases of fraud, were arrested this time, as police found these operators were part of the scheme.

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