Bag of cash left in train station bathroom leads police to bust fraud ring

Taipei, Nov. 6 (CNA) Police on Thursday said they recently arrested 11 suspects in a fraud ring after discovering that they had used a Changhua County train station bathroom as a hand-off point for illicit cash.

According to the Railway Police Bureau, the investigation stemmed from an incident in May, in which a Taiwan Railway passenger found a bag containing NT$1 million (US$32,347) cash in a men's bathroom stall at Changhua's Yuanlin Station.

The man reported the discovery to station workers, who notified the Railway Police's Taichung Precinct, the bureau said in a press release.

Not long after, a man appeared at the station claiming he had left his bag in the bathroom. Noticing his nervous demeanor, Railway Police officers questioned him and found that he could not account for where the money came from, the statement said.

Officers concluded that the cash was illegally obtained via fraud. They arrested the man, seized the cash, and launched an investigation.

After reviewing surveillance video footage, police learned that the man had met with a victim nearby to receive the cash. Members of the ring connected with victims via Line, claiming to be an investment company that would use their money to invest in stocks.

Victims were instructed to meet representatives of the "investment company" in person to hand over the money they wanted to invest.

Using the video footage, officers discovered that after meeting the victim, the man had left the bag of cash in the station bathroom to be collected by another fraud ring member, who was also soon arrested, police said.

Continuing their investigation, officers identified the organization's leader as a 40-year-old man surnamed Chang (張), who operated primarily in Taichung and Changhua.

Upon learning that Chang planned to leave the country in September, they dispatched police to arrest him at Taoyuan International Airport, the bureau said.

After arresting Chang, police seized his computer and sums of cash as evidence, and arrested several other members of the gang. Based on initial estimates, the suspects defrauded multiple victims of over NT$10 million, the bureau said.

Following questioning, the 11 individuals were turned over to the Changhua District Prosecutors Office on suspicion of fraud, the bureau said.