CIB shuts down Taiwanese money laundering ring with links to gambling

Taipei, April 21 (CNA) Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) has shut down an alleged international gambling-related money-laundering operation involving 21 Taiwanese and more than NT$18.2 billion (US$579 million) in illicit funds linked to Thailand and Malaysia.

According to Yang Kuo-sung (楊國松), a CIB researcher, the group was led by a man surnamed Lo (羅) and processed deposits and withdrawals in Thai baht and Vietnamese dong for gambling websites based in Thailand and Vietnam.

CIB agents raided the group's bases in Taipei's Neihu District under the guise of a technology company in April last year and subsequently arrested the 21 suspects in September and November, Yang told a news conference on Tuesday.

From September 2023 to April 15, 2025, the group laundered over NT$18.2 billion and gained more than NT$406 million in illicit profits, the CIB said.

Taipei prosecutors are expected to wrap up their investigation into the case, allowing the CIB to disclose the information, according to the bureau.

All the suspects had been released on bail after prosecutors' questioning, with Lo and another main suspect surnamed Cheng (鄭) both on NT$2 million bail, and the rest on bail ranging from NT$50,000 to NT$100,000.

The CIB was alerted to the case by the Royal Thai Police, which located a money laundering hub in Chiang Mai involving two suspects from Thailand and one from Malaysia, the CIB said.

The syndicate allegedly used third-party payment systems such as Viet Pay in Vietnam and ThaiQR in Thailand, linking them to money mule bank accounts to facilitate cross-border money laundering, the CIB said.