Half a year of Money Laundering 3 billion! Taiwan's police and prosecutors dismantle Hero Pay's cross-border gambling operation, detaining 2 masterminds.

The Taiwanese authorities have again cracked a major cross-border Money Laundering case! The Criminal Investigation Bureau has targeted the illegal third-party payment platform Hero Pay for laundering money for online gambling groups in Southeast Asia, with a cash flow reaching up to 3 billion TWD in just six months, and profits from service fees exceeding 300 million TWD. A special task force raided four locations in Taipei yesterday, detaining 20 individuals, and has applied to the court for the detention and prohibition of visitation for two masterminds in Taiwan, a man with the surname Luo and a woman with the surname Huang, under the Money Laundering Control Act.

Hero Pay is involved in cross-border gambling Money Laundering, with a cash flow exceeding 3 billion in six months

Taiwan's prosecutors and police investigation found that Hero Pay has not been approved for registration by the Digital Department and has long provided Money Laundering services for cross-border gambling financiers in Malaysia, Thailand, and other countries, even operating gambling websites by itself, converting funds into virtual coins through a “collection and payment” model before transferring them abroad.

Investigators pointed out that the platform charges about a 10% transaction fee for each transaction, with a cash flow reaching 3 billion within six months, and the profit from transaction fees alone exceeds 300 million New Taiwan dollars. In this operation, the police seized 200,000 Tether (USDT) at the water house, with a market value of about 6 million, along with cash, computer equipment, and other evidence.

Police conducted a large-scale search, 20 people were brought to the case

The project team conducted simultaneous searches at 4 locations in Taipei City yesterday, including water houses and office locations, and detained 20 individuals involved in the case.

Voice suppression: A man with the surname Luo and a woman with the surname Huang (leader of the Taiwan region)

Bail Amount: Operations team executives Chen Mei-Han and payment collection executive You Shun-Ting each posted bail of 100,000.

Other members: 16 staff members posted bail of 30,000 each, and are restricted from leaving the country or going out to sea.

Prosecutors suspect that there may be other “shadowy figures” behind Hero Pay who have yet to be brought to justice, and they will expand their investigation into the sources and destinations of the funds.

Virtual Currency Money Laundering Techniques Exposed

According to reports, Mr. Luo and Ms. Huang are skilled in virtual currency Money Laundering techniques, using the Hero Pay platform as a “Money Laundering channel” for cross-border fund transfers.

The process includes:

1. Overseas gambling financiers will remit funds to Taiwan.

2. Hero Pay members collect and convert to USDT

3. Then transfer out of the country through multi-layer wallets and platforms.

4. This model is quite well-known in the gambling circle, with complex and hidden money flows.

Prosecutorial Background and Action Extension

This case was directed by Prosecutor Tsai Chia-Chien of the Taipei District Prosecutors Office after the Criminal Investigation Bureau's International Division detected abnormal money flows. Tsai Chia-Chien had previously collaborated with Chief Prosecutor Tseng Yang-Ling to crack down on Taiwan's largest “fake withdrawal scam” case, arresting the female leader of the fraud group, who was dubbed Taiwan's “Jisoo,” Ou Yu-Tong, and successfully blocking the post office's money laundering breach. The total amount of fraud in this case reached 16.4 billion.

The prosecution pointed out that the financial flow and organizational structure of the Hero Pay case are equally substantial, and they will continue to investigate the domestic and foreign funding networks.

Conclusion

The Hero Pay cross-border gambling money laundering case reveals the high concealment and efficiency of virtual currencies in illegal financial flows, and also highlights the challenges of regulation and law enforcement. Prosecutors and police emphasize that they will continue to cooperate with international law enforcement agencies to target cross-border financial flows and virtual asset transactions, preventing Taiwan from becoming an international money laundering hotspot.