Taiwan Police Seize Scam Collectors’ Car Packed With NT$8.08 Million in Cash

Police in Taichung say they found a scam ring’s collection vehicle carrying NT$7.68 million in cash, turning a Taipei parking lot into the scene of a major seizure.

The Criminal Investigation Corps had been tracking a car believed to collect money for a fake investment operation. On Nov. 12 last year, officers moved in while two suspected collectors, a 43-year-old man surnamed Chiang and a 19-year-old man surnamed Huang, were allegedly handing over fraud proceeds at a parking lot in Taipei’s Datong District. Police seized NT$400,000 that had just been collected.

Investigators suspected another vehicle was waiting to receive the money. After reviewing surveillance footage, they found a 25-year-old man surnamed Lin in a second car. Cash bricks filled the floor areas by the front passenger seat and the rear passenger seats. Police counted NT$7.68 million there, describing the vehicle as resembling a mobile ATM. Together with the money seized from the first car, the reported total reached NT$8.08 million.

Police said the group’s operation began with members of a scam center creating LINE accounts and randomly adding victims. They built trust through daily greetings and personal conversations before inviting targets to invest in cryptocurrency. Victims who believed the pitch withdrew large amounts of cash from banks and handed it to people posing as company specialists.

At least seven people were allegedly defrauded of more than NT$4.5 million. Chiang, Huang and Lin were detained after prosecutors investigated, and the three were later indicted on suspected fraud, money laundering and organized crime charges. Police said they are still pursuing the ring’s higher-level members.