【News】Shell Company Registration Too Easy: Hua Nan Investment in Startup Linked to Fraud Ring

In May 2023, the state-owned bank subsidiary 'Hua Nan Venture Capital' quietly announced its plan to divest its stake in Okada Capital Ltd. This offshore company invested in the Taiwanese startup 'Okada Data Technology,' which launched a product in 2018 enabling politicians to create personalized 'chatbots.' During the AI tech boom, even state-backed financial institutions like Hua Nan participated in such investments. However, the company's director, Wu Jing, was later implicated in a money laundering case involving his brother, prominent accountant Wu Pin-Sheng.

In recent years, Taiwanese lawyers and accountants have been increasingly involved in assisting fraud rings with money laundering or embezzling account assets. In April of the previous year, Wu Pin-Sheng (formerly Wu Chia-Wei), an accountant at Weizheng United Accounting Firm, was found guilty of embezzling NT$140 million from a foreign company's bank account during the liquidation of its Taiwan assets. The Supreme Court upheld a four-year prison sentence. Wu Pin-Sheng’s younger brother, Wu Jing, was also indicted in the same case. Over the past few years, the two brothers have been notably active in Taiwan’s startup ecosystem.