7 indicted in Chiayi over LINE crypto scam

Taipei, Sept. 2 (CNA) Seven people have been indicted for defrauding victims through the messaging app LINE by posing as cryptocurrency dealers, cheating 35 victims out of nearly NT$97.43 million (US$3.17 million), Chiayi prosecutors said Tuesday.

According to an Aug. 14 indictment, a man surnamed Lin (林) set up a "Winnie-the-Pooh Professional Crypto Dealer" account on LINE and, over six months from February to August last year, lured 35 people nationwide to invest in Tether.

The suspects signed Tether contracts with victims, collected their money, and transferred cryptocurrency to the victims' LINE wallets.

They then tricked victims into moving the funds to other wallets, committing fraud and money laundering, the Chiayi District Prosecutors Office said in a news release on Tuesday.

Among the victims, five were each scammed out of more than NT$5 million, and four of them lost more than NT$10 million each, prosecutors said.

Lin, 37, who runs a tech firm, joined the scheme after a man surnamed Yang (楊), who owed him money, introduced him to it as a way to settle the debt, prosecutors said. Lin later recruited his staff and family members to participate.

Prosecutors indicted Lin and six others on charges including aggravated fraud, and sought prison sentences of three to nine years, citing the suspects' denial of involvement and lack of remorse.

They also requested a court order to seize Lin's houses and four plots of land to secure recovery of illicit gains.