Taiwanese police dismantle gambling and money laundering syndicate

Police in Taiwan have dismantled an illegal online gambling and money laundering syndicate that operated using a “work from home” model to evade detection. Following investigations by the Criminal Investigation Bureau and local police forces across five counties, authorities arrested 27 suspects.

The syndicate’s leader, a man surnamed Chen, previously operated gambling machine rooms in commercial buildings in Taichung. To avoid police crackdowns, the group transitioned to a residential setup, establishing dedicated departments for promotion and customer service. During raids, officers seized 16.88 million TWD in cash from a safe, along with computers and mobile phones.

Further investigation into the group's financial flows led to the arrest of three additional suspects, including a man surnamed Tsai, who managed an illegal financial system. The group utilized multiple shell companies to facilitate the inflow and outflow of gambling funds. Authorities estimate the syndicate handled over 3.76 billion TWD in illegal transactions over the past year. In total, approximately 30.21 million TWD in illegal gains has been seized.