Cross-Border Pursuit and Capture of the Main Suspects of the Richmond Trust Limited Company Illegal Deposits Case, Married Couple CHEN, CHIH-TSAN and LIU, MEI-HSUEH Returned to Taiwan from Thailand and Surrendered to Authorities

The joint effort of Taiwan and Thailand's authorities delivers success! The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) worked with Thailand's immigration authority to bring the criminal fugitives CHEN, CHIH-TSAN and LIU, MEI-HSUEH to Taiwan from Bangkok. The two criminal fugitives were successfully captured in Thailand, Bangkok in the afternoon of July 18, 2023, and transported to the Taiwan Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office (hereinafter referred to as “the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office”).

In 2000, CHEN, CHIH-TSAN and LIU, MEI-HSUEH established in Hong Kong the Richmond Trust Limited Company (hereinafter referred to as the “Richmond Company”), a fictitious company pretending to be the subsidiary of the Richmond Bank under the European Geneva Corporation. Through performing a multi-level marketing strategy across Taiwan, offering services by conducting foreign exchange futures transactions on behalf of customers while guaranteeing 20% or more in annual profits, the company attracted investors to invest. However, in November 2001, under the guise of the company’s overseas bank going out of business, the Richmond Company refused to pay the dividends and return the principals. The couple were suspected of violating the Banking Act, obtaining over NT$3.9 billion by fraud and affecting over 4,000 victims. Upon investigation by the Kaohsiung City Field Division of the Investigation Bureau (hereinafter referred to as “the Kaohsiung City Field Division”), the case was transferred to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office on February 22, 2002, and the prosecutor of the Office indicted the couple on June 20 of the same year. However, Chen and Liu had left Taiwan in October 2001 and stayed in Mainland China and had yet to return. Nonetheless, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office issued warrants for the couple on July 9, 2002.

On June 21, 2023, Chen and Liu, holding Belizean passports, requested to transfer their visa status in Thailand from Elite Card to Permanent Residency. While comparing the data reported by the MJIB, the Immigration Bureau of Thailand detected anomalies. Subsequently, delivered the information to the immigration secretary of the National Immigration Agency in Thailand along with the fingerprint card and the circular order in English, to report to the Legal Secretary of the MJIB. Upon confirmation of the suspects’ identities, the Thailand authorities arrested the couple at their residence in Bangkok on June 24. Despite this case having taken several years, no man can escape from the long arm of the law. Through diligent coordination with the Immigration Bureau of Thailand, Chen and Liu were deported from Thailand and flown back to Taiwan on a China Airlines flight, escorted by the Legal Secretary of the MJIB. The flight landed on July 18, at 3:40 pm, and the fugitives were transferred to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office by the Kaohsiung City Field Division, thus showing the Investigation Bureau’s determination to catch and bring criminal fugitives to justice.