Taiwanese Man Sentenced for Fraudulent Claims of Kinship with City Speaker

A delivery driver in Taiwan has been sentenced to eight months in prison for defrauding two people of more than NT$500,000 by falsely claiming kinship with New Taipei City Speaker Chiang Ken-huang. The man, identified as Li Hsia-jan, used his fabricated connections and various deceptive schemes to trick the victims into parting with their money.

Li met the victims, identified by their surnames Yu and Kuo, through a former girlfriend two years ago. He then leveraged this connection to create an illusion of having strong political and business ties. He falsely told them he was a relative of Speaker Chiang and worked at the speaker's company, thereby gaining their trust.

Between February and April 2024, Li employed several fraudulent tactics. He convinced Yu to give him over NT$80,000 and Kuo over NT$100,000 by claiming he could secure investment profits through a "buy-now-pay-later" scheme with retailers and financing companies. He also claimed he could obtain iPhones at a lower price through a "telecommunications store promotion" and offered to resell them for a profit. Additionally, he offered to procure tickets for a Jacky Cheung concert, charging the victims for tickets and taxes.

To further his deception, Li fabricated and presented documents such as payment requests from financing companies and remittance slips to bolster his credibility. The court criticized Li for not pursuing legitimate means to acquire funds, instead resorting to fraud that caused financial losses to the victims. The judge noted his lack of respect for the law and others' property rights. Although Li confessed to the charges during the investigation and trial, he has not reached a settlement or compensated the victims. The sentence is convertible to a fine, and he has the right to appeal.