A former TSMC engineer in Taiwan has been caught by authorities after running an illicit currency exchange network between Taiwan and South Korea. The individual left his role at TSMC due to health complications. Taiwanese authorities started their investigation into Chang's network in February after receiving a tip about a logistics company purportedly involved in handling currency between the two regions.
According to the details, the former TSMC engineer was operating a money laundering network since 2018 to facilitate payments for Taiwanese apparel business sourcing goods from South Korea. The network operated underground by enabling the payments for the exporters to be diverted away from official channels.
After apparel companies would purchase their products in Korea, their representatives in Taiwan would make the payments to the underground currency network. The firm would then make its payments in Korea and avoid formal banking channels in the process. Details provided by the police in Taiwan reveal that not only do some underground currency traders enable cross-border transactions, but they also collect shipping fees and transfer the products to Taiwan.
The front being used by the network was a logistics company. Profits by the network are made by the differences in exchange rates, with black market exchange rates typically being higher than the official rates. Police told the media that the profit is split with the logistics company, which, we can infer, was responsible for shipping the goods from Korea to Taiwan.
The group's operations weren't limited to cross-border payments between Taiwan and South Korea. It also transferred the funds to a domestic cryptocurrency exchange and then transferred the funds to South Korea through global exchanges such as Binance and Bybit, as well as personal cold wallets. According to the police , the intent of the diversity of the currency flows was to divert investigators' attention.
As for the former TSMC employee, he used his engineering acumen in the business. The engineer developed profit calculation formulas and researched methods to leverage exchange rate differences to grow his profits. The police carried out its operations in three waves, on July 14th, July 22nd and July 29th in several Taiwanese districts and conducted 14 searches. These culminated in the engineer's arrest along with 11 accomplices.
Investigators recovered NT$2.55 million in cash, 1,078 tether coins, 1.71 million Korean won and other assets from different countries that were worth NT$1.03 million. Other items seized included three Piguet watches, a Rolex and a Tesla Model S Plaid. After being arrested, the former TSMC employee was released on NT500,000 bail.
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