Relevant Legal Provisions

Criminal Code Article 30, Paragraph 1: Those who assist others in committing criminal acts are considered accomplices. This applies even if the other party is unaware of the assistance.

Criminal Code Article 339, Paragraph 1: Those who, with the intent to unlawfully obtain property for themselves or a third party, use deceit to cause another person to deliver property belonging to themselves or a third party shall be punished with imprisonment for up to five years, detention, or a fine of up to NT$500,000, or both.

Facts and Reasons

The defendant (our client) participated in a lottery event on Instagram. Subsequently, an organizer contacted the defendant and falsely claimed that account verification required the payment of a certain amount. Over time, the defendant was induced to transfer approximately NT$400,000. Furthermore, the organizer impersonated a Financial Supervisory Commission official and claimed that restructuring funds required the defendant to provide postal and bank account cards. After obtaining these account cards, the organizer disappeared and became uncontactable. Realizing they had been scammed, the defendant immediately reported the case to the police, but the accounts had already been used as tools for fraudulent activities by the scam group.

Prosecutor's Disposition

The defendant in the fraud case, after an investigation, was deemed eligible for a non-prosecution decision.

The defendant provided chat records, bank transaction details, and a report receipt, all of which were sufficient to prove that the defendant was also a victim of the fraud case and suffered significant losses. For the crime of aiding fraud to be established, it must be proven that the assisting party was aware or should have been aware that the financial accounts they provided would be used by the fraudsters to deceive others (e.g., selling, renting, or lending accounts) or that they had foreseen the possibility of these accounts being used as tools to defraud others. Conversely, if the accounts were handed over due to being deceived and not out of free will, and if the defendant could not have anticipated that these accounts would be used as criminal tools, the crime of aiding fraud cannot be established.

In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to obtain dummy accounts. Fraud groups have employed various deceptive methods to acquire them. It is not uncommon for individuals to be misled by fraud group members and to hand over substantial financial assets. Therefore, it is not surprising that account holders hand over financial account information under similar circumstances.

(Some details of the case have been adjusted or omitted to protect the parties' rights.)

Attorneys: Ian Yan