Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau uncovered a large-scale illegal money transfer network that had been operating between the island and South Korea since 2018. According to police, the scheme was run by a former engineer at the Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC, who had left the company due to health problems. After his departure, the man turned to underground settlements for Taiwanese trading companies that purchased clothing in South Korea. Clients handed over cash to representatives of the network in Taiwan, while affiliated participants paid for the goods on the Korean side, completely bypassing the legal banking system. A logistics company, formally engaged in product transportation, was used as a cover.
Cryptocurrency Layer and Technical Optimization
To make it harder to trace the flow of funds, the organizers used several channels for moving money. Funds were first run through a local cryptocurrency exchange and then sent to South Korea via the Binance and Bybit platforms, as well as through personal cold wallets. The former engineer, according to the investigation, applied his technical skills to calculate profits and identify the most favorable moments to earn from exchange rate fluctuations. The group's main income came from the spread between the official and the underground exchange rates.
Three Waves of Searches and 14 Detainees
Police carried out 14 searches in three waves — on July 14, 22, and 29. As a result, the organizer and 11 other participants of the network were detained. In the photographs released by law enforcement, the seized items are displayed: stacks of New Taiwan dollars, South Korean won, and US dollars, bank passbooks and plastic cards, as well as a number of smartphones, presumably used to coordinate the operations.
Seized Assets: From Cash to a Tesla Model S Plaid
From the group, police seized 2.55 million New Taiwan dollars in cash, 1,078 USDT, 1.71 million South Korean won, as well as other assets totaling approximately 1.03 million New Taiwan dollars. Among the confiscated items were Audemars Piguet and Rolex watches, as well as a Tesla Model S Plaid electric vehicle. After his detention, the former TSMC employee was released on a bail of 500,000 New Taiwan dollars. The investigation is ongoing.
Contradictory Data
No significant discrepancies in figures or chronology were found in the sources provided for fact-checking. However, the second of the two available sources (biz.chosun.com) is devoted to an entirely different topic — the commercialization of TSMC's glass substrates in South Korea — and contains no information about the investigation. Thus, all key facts rely on a single primary source (goha.ru), which republishes data from the Taiwanese police. No independent confirmation from the Korean side has been provided within this material.
