Taiwan man jailed for aiding scam that defrauded 26 people

A 56-year-old man, identified as Han, has been sentenced to five months in prison for his role in a scam that defrauded 26 individuals of more than one million yuan. Han, who previously worked in the jade trade, needed funds and found a loan provider online. The provider demanded Han's identification documents and a digital personal certificate (natural person certificate) as a condition for a loan.

Facing a flagged bank account, Han persuaded an unsuspecting female friend, identified as Wu, to provide her identification and digital certificate. He then passed these details to the fraudulent group. Using Wu's information, the scammers applied for online digital accounts with several banks, including Hua Nan, Mega International Commercial Bank, and Standard Chartered. They then used these accounts to lure 26 victims into transferring funds through a "fake investment" scheme.

During the trial, Han denied the charges, claiming he was also a victim of the loan scam and had not received any money himself. He presented LINE chat logs as evidence of his interactions with the loan provider and his friend. However, the court found that Han had a prior conviction in 2021 for aiding fraud and money laundering by providing his own accounts. The judge ruled that Han should have known that legitimate loans do not require personal digital certificates and that his easy belief in the provider's claims, despite lacking verification, was unreasonable. The court concluded that Han acted with intent to aid fraud and money laundering for his own benefit, imposing a five-month sentence, commutable to a fine of 150,000 yuan, and a 10,000 yuan penalty.