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Prosecutors in Taipei yesterday sought life sentences for the suspected ringleaders of an extortion ring linked to the deaths of three people, and 20 to 30 years in prison for 27 other suspects.
The Taipei Shilin District Prosecutor’s Office said the suspects, including alleged ringleaders Fu Yu-lin (傅榆藺) and Chen Hua-wei (陳樺韋), were charged with crimes against personal liberty resulting in death.
The case will be heard by the Shilin District Court.
Chen, 35, was detained along with 25 others on November 5 following a series of police actions, while Fu, 30, from Keelung’s Sidu (七堵) district, was arrested on November 10.
The suspects engaged in criminal activities that endangered people’s lives, while their complete disregard for the law tarnished Taiwan’s international image, prosecutors said.
From September until their arrest, they are suspected of defrauding 307 people of nearly 400 million New Taiwan dollars (US$13.03 million), prosecutors said.
During the actions, police freed 58 people allegedly held against their will by the suspects and recovered the bodies of three people, prosecutors said.
Two of the bodies were found hidden in Taoyuan’s Guishan District (龜山) and the other in Nantou County. The latter was taken to Nantou after the person fell to his death from the 11th floor of an apartment building occupied by the suspects in Taoyuan’s Zhongli (中壢) district, police said.
The suspects lured their victims to locations in Zhongli and Tamsui District (淡水) in New Taipei City under the pretext of interviewing them for high-paying jobs, investigators said.
People who appeared for the mock interviews were held against their will for anywhere from a few days to over a month by the suspects, who allegedly tortured them to obtain their bank books, account passwords and identity documents , investigators added.
The suspects beat, pepper-sprayed and electrocuted uncooperative captives, police said, adding that they found tasers and retractable batons at two suspected torture sites.
The suspects likely used the stolen bank accounts to commit fraud and money laundering, they said.
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