The Cabinet proposed heavier penalties on Thursday for criminals involved in luring locals into extraterritorial organized crime, after a number of Cambodia-based scam operations were found to have Taiwanese associates.
Under the proposal, any offense related to recruiting Taiwanese to join a criminal organization outside the territory of the Republic of China would result in a prison sentence of between one and seven years and a fine of up to NT$20 million (US$653,648), according to the Cabinet.
If offenders target victims who are under 18, the punishment will be increased by up to half, according to the amendment to the Organized Crime Prevention Act which was approved by the Cabinet at its weekly meeting Thursday.
According to the Organized Crime Prevention Act, the recruitment of people to organized crime is currently punishable by a jail sentence of between six months and five years and a fine of up to NT$10 million, regardless of whether the crimes take place in Taiwan or overseas.
Meanwhile, the amendment added a clause stating that the property of any group which supports a criminal organization such as providing funding or recruitment shall be confiscated after deducting any amount belonging to victims.
The amendment, drafted by the Ministry of Justice, will be referred by the Cabinet to the Legislature for deliberation.
Should the amendment pass the Legislature, people convicted for involvement in trafficking Taiwanese to Cambodia to work for criminal organizations engaged in activities such as telecom fraud, sexual exploitation and organ removal, shall be subject to the more severe punishment, the ministry said in a statement.
As of Dec. 12, the Taiwan government has assisted in the return of 403 Taiwanese, many of whom were allegedly lured to Cambodia with offers of fake lucrative jobs and then forced to work for criminal organizations, but around 300 people are believed to still be held in the country against their will, according to Wallace Chow (???), director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MOFA) Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel