Job Scam

Four people found guilty of human trafficking for forcing people from Pingtung County to work for a Cambodia-based telecoms fraud operation have been handed down harsher sentences by the Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch Court.

Seven members of a scam ring were handed jail sentences ranging from 22 months to nearly 11 years after being found guilty of posting fake job ads online to lure victims who were forced to hand over their bank accounts which were used to launder fraudulently obtained money, Taichung District Court said on Thursday.

Three Taiwanese men who were duped into traveling to Georgia and forced to participate in a fraud ring were rescued by local police and returned to Taiwan in June and July, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said Thursday.

Two leaders of a northern Taiwan extortion and fraud ring that was tied to the deaths of three people and the kidnapping of dozens of others have been sentenced to life in prison, according to the Shilin District Court in Taipei.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office have been censured for their mishandling of incidents in which Taiwanese individuals fell victim to job scam rings offering well paid jobs in Southeast Asian countries, the Control Yuan said on Monday.

A Taiwanese man was sentenced to six years and four months in prison for luring people to Myanmar with lucrative job offers and forcing them to carry out online scams, according to a recent Taipei District Court ruling.

A bill which establishes penalties for attempted human trafficking passed the Legislative Yuan Friday, with offenders to face up to seven years in prison.

The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment Tuesday that increased the penalties for recruiting Taiwanese into cross-border organized crime rings to up to seven years in prison and a possible fine of up to NT$20 million (US$652,000).

The leader of a Taiwanese criminal gang that trafficked 88 victims into forced labor in Cambodia has been sentenced to 18 years in prison, according to the Taipei District Court.

The Taiwan Changhua District Court on Friday said three individuals were found guilty of deceiving Taiwanese nationals to head to Southeast Asia as "cyber slave" workers, and were subsequently sentenced to prison terms of between 42 and 90 months.