Realty mogul indicted over alleged NT$500 million fraud

Kaohsiung, June 18 (CNA) A real estate mogul wanted for allegedly defrauding investors out of more than NT$500 million (US$15.43 million) and escorted back to Taiwan from Thailand last month was indicted Tuesday for violations of the Banking Act.

Lee Chen Miao-yin (李陳妙音), who was arrested in Thailand on March 26, was transferred into the custody of the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office shortly after being repatriated to Taiwan on May 9.

The mogul was indicted for her involvement, along with her husband Lee Chang-an (李長安) and co-conspirators Liu Wei-ting (劉威廷) and Rich Lee (李進倫), in Harbor View Residences, a 456-unit hotel and condominium development project in Bangkok.

According to the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB), the quartet used Blue Ocean Realty Co., a company established by Liu and Rich Lee in Taipei in 2013, to illegally accept deposits without registering as a bank.

The MJIB said that Blue Ocean Realty Co. and a sister company in Thailand began to solicit funds for the Bangkok development project by promising investors annual returns of 4 to 6.5 percent.

The MJIB added that from October 2016 to October 2018, the group recruited 88 people to invest in the project and the total deposits received illegally amounted to 608 million baht (US$16.54 million)

Investors later reported the company to the police after it stopped paying the promised returns, the MJIB said.

In 2019, Lee Chen and her husband fled to Thailand, while the two co-conspirators were subsequently arrested by police in Taiwan.

In October 2023, the Kaohsiung District Court sentenced Rich Lee to 12 years in prison and handed a 10-and-a-half-year sentence to Liu for violating the Banking Act by illegally receiving deposits.

Lee Chen and Lee Chang-an were listed as wanted fugitives by the Investigation Bureau in 2021.

During the investigation by prosecutors, Lee Chen admitted that she established the company to promote the investment project but contended that it was her husband's decision to recruit investors, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office said on Tuesday.

Prosecutors said they determined Lee Chen had engaged in illegal fundraising activities based on relevant evidence and charged her with violations of the Banking Act.

However, Lee Chen's husband is still at large.