Billionaire among 32 charged with money laundering
Staff writer, with CNA
A billionaire was among 32 people indicted by Taichung prosecutors yesterday for running an online gambling platform and allegedly engaging in money laundering, earning illicit gains of more than NT$59.4 billion (US$2.1 billion).
Chuang Chou-wen (莊周文), chairman of Taichung-based Xinliwang International Holdings Co Ltd (新力旺國際控股公司), and 31 of his employees have been charged with gambling, engaging in organized criminal activity and tax evasion by the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office.
The 50-year-old has been detained since his arrest in November last year.
After he was arrested, prosecutors confiscated all of the assets found under his name, including 13 luxury vehicles, NT$1.2 billion and US$2.65 million in cash, and 41 properties worth NT$1.3 billion, to prevent him from moving or liquidating the allegedly ill-gotten gains prior to trial.