18-year sentence for crime ring leader who trafficked 88 victims upheld

Taipei, Nov. 8 (CNA) Taiwan's Supreme Court has upheld an 18-year prison sentence for the leader of a crime ring that trafficked 88 victims into forced labor in Cambodia.

In late October, the Supreme Court found no issues with the prison sentence handed to crime ring leader Lee Chen-hao (李振豪), who had denied any wrongdoing during his trial at the Taipei District Court.

The sentence remains unchanged since the district court's initial ruling in April 2023.

The sentences of Lee's accomplices were reduced by the High Court from 11-16.5 years to 9-16.5 years, after some pleaded guilty to certain charges they had previously denied, according to the verdict.

This case is part of a wave of job scams that came to light in the summer of 2022, when thousands of Taiwanese were found to have been trafficked to several Southeast Asian countries, primarily Cambodia.

According to the district court's verdict, members of the ring began posting ads on Facebook in November 2021, offering high-paying, Cambodia-based jobs in customer service for gaming and gambling websites.

After victims arrived in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville and other locations, members of local criminal organizations seized their passports and forced them to work in telecom scam networks or pay large ransoms to return to Taiwan.

Those who refused to work or failed to meet performance targets were beaten, locked in solitary confinement, or even sold to other criminal gangs, the verdict said.

According to prosecutors, Lee and his accomplices ultimately trafficked 88 Taiwanese nationals to Cambodia, receiving between US$17,000 and US$18,000 for each victim from Cambodian criminal organizations.

Taiwanese authorities rescued 22 victims in 2022 and have saved another 30 since then. Based on their testimonies, prosecutors filed indictments against Lee and his eight co-conspirators in September 2022 and January 2023.

The district court found all nine defendants guilty of human trafficking, participation in organized crime, and profiting by fraudulently causing others to leave the Republic of China.

Their sentences varied based on the extent of their involvement in the crimes, the harm caused to victims, and the degree to which they cooperated with investigators following their arrests, the district court said.