A couple with the surname Xu from Taichung established an online gambling group. After an investigation, Mr. Xu and 52 others were arrested and prosecuted. The authorities found that the group's gambling funds reached NT$800 billion in one year, with profits of NT$17 billion. Recently, the Taichung District Court sentenced the couple to 1 year and 8 months, and 1 year and 6 months in prison, respectively, and confiscated their criminal proceeds, including two properties worth over a hundred million.
According to the prosecutor's indictment, Mr. Xu and his wife, Ms. Zhang, along with a man from China nicknamed "DK," formed a gambling money laundering syndicate. Mr. Xu and Ms. Zhang were the heads of the gambling and money laundering operations in Taiwan.
The group operated seven online gambling platforms, including MX (Wanbo), allowing gamblers to bet on various games. They targeted people from China, Taiwan, and the Philippines, aiming to profit illegally, with rebates to gamblers reaching up to 1.1% to 1.2%.
On August 16, 2021, prosecutors from the Taichung District Prosecutors Office, armed with a search warrant, raided the group's headquarters in Taichung's 7th redevelopment zone, seizing computers, mobile phones, monitors, routers, combat manuals, and personnel records. On November 2 of the same year, they raided the Xu couple's residence, seizing over NT$50.39 million in cash, four cars, ten watches, and 77 designer bags.
The investigation revealed that from August 2020 to August 2021, the group's gambling funds amounted to approximately NT$800 billion, with a net profit of RMB 3.86228 billion (about NT$17.04543 billion). In August 2022, Mr. Xu and 52 co-defendants were charged with organized crime, gambling, and money laundering, and their illegal gains were confiscated.
After the first trial, the Taichung District Court recently sentenced Mr. Xu and Ms. Zhang to 1 year and 8 months, and 1 year and 6 months in prison, respectively, and declared all their movable and immovable properties confiscated as illegal gains. It is understood that the Xu couple owns two properties in Taichung's 7th phase, valued at about NT$120 million. If the judgment is finalized, these properties may be auctioned off, potentially setting a record for the highest auction price by the Administrative Enforcement Agency's Taichung Division.
