Taiwan dismantles $1bn illegal gambling, money laundering syndicate

Days after the murder of a high-profile gambling figure tied to Taiwan's criminal underworld, nearly a dozen individuals, suspected of being involved in a massive money laundering scheme, valued at more than $1bn, were indicted. The development highlights the strong position of criminal syndicates that are often connected to countries around Southeast Asia.

Details regarding the criminal case emerged from the Yunlin District Prosecutors Office, confirming that a complex criminal syndicate that has laundered hundreds of millions of dollars has been taken down. According to the Prosecutors Office, the criminal group was able to successfully launder more than NT$33bn, or $1.03bn, in profits originating from illegal gambling. The massive probe resulted in the indictment of 10 individuals, while according to Taiwan's Central News Agency, a total of 20 had been arrested. Concerningly, two individuals, suspected of holding leadership roles at the criminal syndicate, are yet to be captured by law enforcement and a warrant for their arrest has been issued. News about the takedown of the criminal syndicate follows the announcement about the murder of Lin Ping-wen, a high-profile fugitive notorious for his alleged ties to 88 Lounge, another landmark money laundering and fraud case. While on the run for months, Pin-wen was reportedly shot in Cambodia on Monday.

According to the Yunlin District Prosecutors Office, the actions of the criminal syndicate were complex and led to casinos in Macau. At the gaming floors of China's special administrative region, individuals described as money mules, helped the criminal syndicate launder money from illegal gambling. The criminal groups used the bank accounts of the so-called money mules and deposited large sums obtained from illicit gambling. This led to the increase of the credit card limits of those individuals, who subsequently visited Macau and, in some cases, pretended to gamble or gambled with insignificant sums before exchanging their chips into cash. This exchange sought to disguise the source of the illegal gambling proceeds and make it look like the money in the mules bank accounts were obtained from legal gambling. It is yet to be seen whether or not more suspects may be arrested in this landmark case. As for the two individuals who are thought to be ringleaders, so far, they remain at large.