TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan prosecutors arrested 25 members of Chen Chih's (陳志) Prince Holding Group (太子集團) and seized illegal assets worth NT$4.5 billion (around US$145.6 million). Authorities requested detention for Ku Shuwen (辜淑雯), Chen's close associate, on Wednesday (Nov. 5) morning for money laundering, gambling, fraud, and organized crime. The overnight investigation intensified Taiwan's crackdown on the international financial fraud network.
The Taipei District Prosecutors Office, Taiwan's main prosecution agency, launched large-scale searches Tuesday a day earlier, uncovering multiple illegal activities. Investigators found four key violations: luxury real estate purchases in the Daan District as money laundering evidence, engineer recruitment for online gambling operations, asset concealment through luxury car transfers, and criminal network expansion into Palau. The group allegedly collaborated with organizations to buy Palau islands for resort development.
U.S. federal prosecutors indicted Chen on Oct. 8 for orchestrating one of the world's largest financial fraud schemes, with over US$140 billion swindled. Daily profits reached US$30 million at the scheme's peak, prosecutors allege. The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions Oct. 14, targeting nine companies and three Taiwanese individuals linked to the group.
Chen holds dual citizenship in Cambodia and the United Kingdom and previously served as an adviser to Cambodia's prime ministers, cultivating a reputation as a philanthropist. The U.S. and U.K. imposed sanctions on him and his companies, freezing assets including a US$14 million mansion and seizing 120,000 bitcoins. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand froze and seized assets worth over NT$10 billion (around US$323.6 million). ◼ (At time of reporting, US$1 equals approximately NT$30.9)
