Man jailed for exploiting loophole in MRT prepaid machine to store counterfeit currency

Since 2023, the man Cai Zhengxian has been entrusted by "Xu Banghong" and other unknown persons to import a large number of counterfeit 50-yuan coins by freight. After arriving in Taiwan, he went to various MRT stations in Taipei and used vulnerabilities or errors in the coin function of the automatic ticket vending machines to store more than 210,000 yuan in Easy Card or All-in-one cards. Later, he recruited others to travel to China by human transportation and imported a large number of counterfeit coins. The judge of the New Taipei District Court considered Cai Nan and others to reconcile with Beijie and returned all the proceeds of crime. After reducing the sentence, he was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison and two months in prison for violating the smuggling regulations and the criminal law. He was sentenced to two months in prison, suspended for two years, and paid 20,000 yuan to the public treasury. He can appeal.

The other defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 6 months to 1 year and 6 months, and were suspended for 2 years. They were also required to pay amounts ranging from 6,000 yuan to 12,000 yuan to the public treasury.

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Prosecutors' investigation revealed that Cai Zhengxian and his brother Cai Zhongche had been entrusted by "Xu Banghong" and the WeChat nickname "AAA International Express Mr. Wang" whose real name is unknown since 2023 to import the coins through freight declaration. After the Cai Zhengxian brothers obtained a large number of coins, they knew that they were mixed with counterfeit coins and deformed and stained coins of low quality. If they took them to a bank to exchange them Fearing that they would be rejected or have to pay a high appraisal fee, from the beginning of 2023 to 2024, he brought a large number of 50-yuan coins with suspicious origins and low-quality test coins to Taipei MRT Ximen, Jiangzicui, Banqiao and other stations, and used loopholes or errors in the coin recognition function of the machines to store value on EasyCards or All-in-One Cards, totaling more than 210,000 yuan.

One batch of coins imported in the name of "hardware accessories" was detained by the Keelung Customs Office of the Ministry of Finance and Customs. After being sent to the Central Mint for inspection, the identification results were that 4 50-yuan coins were counterfeit currency. Taipei MRT also found strange things and reported them to the police. The police sent the 3,876 coins seized to the Central Mint for inspection, and the identification results showed that there were 33 counterfeit 50-yuan coins.

Prosecutors' investigation revealed that Tsai Cheng-hsien later changed his criminal pattern and purchased a large number of defaced or counterfeit NT$50, NT$10, NT$5, and NT$1 coins from "Xu Banghong" at a discount of about 25% to 33% off the market price, and shipped them back to Taiwan for profit. They were paid about NT$3,000 to NT$4,000 per trip, and provided with free food, accommodation and air tickets to avoid being inspected for carrying excessive coins in person. They recruited 7 men and others to fly to Shanghai and hid the coins in their personal luggage to enter Taiwan. After receiving the report, the police launched a search and sent the seized currency to the Central Mint for inspection. They identified 262 counterfeit 50-yuan coins and 146 counterfeit 10-yuan coins.