Taipei police have arrested four individuals in connection with a NT$12 million fraud case that allegedly led to the tragic suicides of a mother and daughter in Neihu District on Sunday. A total of 10 suspects are believed to be linked to the scam, with four arrested on Tuesday, five already detained or imprisoned for other offenses, and one still at large.
The victims, a 55-year-old mother surnamed Ning and her 29-year-old daughter surnamed Tseng, reportedly took their own lives after being defrauded between July and October. The pair had reportedly written a suicide note indicating they had been swindled out of their life savings by fraudsters posing as the internet-famous financial investment mentors “ZRBros” (柴鼠兄弟). They had reported the fraud to the police the previous Wednesday.
The fraudsters had reached the mother and daughter through an advertisement on Facebook, which led them to join an investment group on the messaging platform Line. Police discovered that the suspects had defrauded the pair by convincing them to invest substantial sums of money.
On Tuesday, police arrested two suspects, 20-year-old woman Huang (黃) in Taoyuan and 35-year-old man Yang (楊) in Sijhih District, New Taipei City. Huang had already been charged with fraud, forgery, and money laundering after it was revealed that she had received NT$400,000 from the victims in August. Yang, who had received NT$200,000 in July, told authorities that he and Huang had been “following orders” from their superiors, unaware of the devastating impact their actions had on the victims.
Bail for Yang has been set at NT$50,000, with conditions for house arrest, while Huang will remain in detention as prosecutors applied to hold her incommunicado. Additionally, two other suspects—18-year-old Hsieh (謝), who allegedly received NT$500,000, and 24-year-old Wang (王), who reportedly received NT$1 million—were arrested in Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, respectively.
Authorities also uncovered 15 bank accounts linked to the victims, which had been emptied of funds in the two months leading up to their report of the fraud. Investigators are now focusing on tracking down additional suspects and uncovering the full extent of the operation.
The investigation has also led to scrutiny of a police officer’s conduct. The officer, surnamed Liu (劉), was accused of using inappropriate language while handling the case, leading to an internal investigation. Liu has been issued a major demerit and reassigned, while the case is being examined by the Disciplinary Court for further action.
Taipei Police Commissioner Lee Hsi-ho expressed deep condolences for the victims’ families and vowed to improve training and oversight of police conduct in the future.
