The Executive Yuan will pass the amendment draft of the "Money Laundering Prevention Act" today, adding the crime of collecting accounts and account numbers without justified reasons, with a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a fine of up to 4 million yuan.

(Provided by the Executive Yuan)

[Reporter Wu Zhengfeng/Taipei Report] On the 13th, the Executive Yuan passed the draft amendments to Articles 15-1, 15-2, and 16 of the "Money Laundering Prevention Act" prepared by the Ministry of Justice, and will submit a letter to the Legislative Yuan for review.

The Ministry of Justice emphasized that the revision of the law has three key points of head account crimes: collection, delivery, and legal person liability. After the legislation is passed, it will effectively end book collection crimes and head account chaos, demonstrating the government’s firm determination to combat fraud crimes. Keep the commitment to strengthen the social security system.

The Ministry of Justice explained that there are three key points in this revised draft. The first is to add the crime of collecting accounts and account numbers without justified reasons (Article 15-1 of the draft). A fine of not more than 4 million yuan may be imposed.

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Secondly, it is clearly stipulated that no one may hand over or provide accounts to others without justified reasons (Article 15-2 of the draft). In the legislative model, the violators are first punished by the police and admonished, and those who commit crimes again within 5 years after the admonition will be punished with criminal punishment.

Those who "sell" accounts or account numbers with a high degree of viciousness or deliver more than 3 accounts or account numbers in one act will be directly subject to criminal punishment.

Third, in line with the newly added provisions, the extraterritorial effect of the fine penalty for legal persons and the crime of collecting accounts is added (Article 16 of the draft)

The Ministry of Justice explained that the revision of the law is aimed at the fact that fraudulent syndicates often use the acquisition of head financial accounts as a criminal tool to receive fraudulent funds. In addition to causing difficulties in recovering actual criminal proceeds and behind-the-scenes syndicates, they often face difficulties in judicial practice. It is not easy to prove that the person who provided the account or the person who collected the account has subjective (helping) criminal intentions. Therefore, Minister Cai Qingxiang believes that the head account problem must be fundamentally resolved from the legal aspect in order to effectively combat the evil of fraudulent groups in the implementation aspect. The specific instruction is to actively study and amend the "Money Laundering Prevention Law" to block the source of illegal money flow of fraudulent groups from the account side, so that fraud and money laundering crimes cannot succeed.

The Ministry of Justice pointed out that the Executive Yuan will launch a two-year "New Generation Fraud Fighting Strategy Action Plan" from July 2022. Comprehensive regional joint defense. In addition to continuously supervising the Higher Prosecutor's Office, the Procuratorate, and the police and investigation agencies to fight fraud, the Ministry of Justice also reviews, researches, and amends laws at any time to avoid loopholes in legal punishment.

The Ministry of Justice explained that the amendment refers to the Japanese "Criminal Proceeds Transfer Prevention Act", and has held several law revision conferences, inviting experts, scholars, and practitioners from all walks of life, including prosecutors, prosecutors, and agency representatives, to discuss and amend the law. The purpose is to block the cash flow of fraudulent groups from the source, and reduce the public from being deceived again through the legal regulation of head account and book collection crimes.

The Ministry of Justice will fully cooperate with the follow-up review and other procedures, hoping to make the amendment pass smoothly, provide law enforcement colleagues with a weapon to fight fraud, and protect people's property and safety.