Taiwanese biotech boss All-in invested in cryptocurrencies and was scammed out of 50 million! He was then coerced into mortgaging his house to "recoup" the losses

New Taipei City uncovers an “offline version” cryptocurrency fund pyramid scheme. A senior executive of a biotech company was drained of NT$59 million within a year and a half, demonstrating a new scam method that extends on-chain fraud into real estate mortgage fraud.
(Background summary: FBI: US crypto ATM scams last year totaled $330 million, prompting multiple states to issue bans)
(Additional background: Prince Group founder Chen Zhi has been arrested; after stealing 127,000 BTC, he will be extradited to China for trial)

According to Liberty Times and Economic Daily, a cross-chain and physical scam case occurred in New Taipei City. Police indicated that a biotech company manager (or partner) lost NT$59 million within just a year and a half. He was first lured by a fake crypto platform app that drained liquidity, then was tricked into a real estate mortgage contract at a “fake notary office” in Taipei.

This case shows that Taiwanese scam groups are now targeting middle- to high-net-worth individuals, upgrading from simple online phishing to “comprehensive asset liquidation.”

Online depletion followed by offline exploitation

The victim, a senior executive at a biotech company, initially fell into a fake investment app for cryptocurrencies, seeing high reported returns on paper and continuing to add funds. However, later he lost about NT$50 million of his own deposits, all “lost in the scam.”

Subsequently, the scam group did not cut ties directly but switched to a second script, enticing him to “add more to recover losses,” and introduced him to a man surnamed Su claiming to be a notary, creating a seemingly legitimate land transaction process, even preparing legally binding promissory notes and mortgage contracts.

The 52-year-old man surnamed Su was not qualified as a land registrar but claimed to be able to legally conduct lending through his notary office. Staff member surnamed Hsiao, aged 51, helped set up the property mortgage loan for the victim, and another man surnamed Chou, aged 44, provided the loan.

The victim, anxious about sunk costs and needing cash to “recoup,” impulsively signed a property mortgage agreement, borrowing over NT$10 million, which was then divided into 15 installments and handed over to the scammers, who further stripped the victim of his property.

How the scam cycle operates

This type of scam is very popular worldwide. The entire structure begins with an online “investment advisor” creating a FOMO atmosphere to divert victims, who are then manipulated into using fake cryptocurrency trading platforms to swallow their invested funds.

Furthermore, if victims own real estate or other assets that can be mortgaged, the scam group will use persuasion to induce the victim to mortgage their assets for cash, which is then handed over face-to-face. Usually, at this stage, the scam group cooperates with private lending companies. When victims realize their funds have gone to waste and cannot repay the loans, they are left helpless as creditors liquidate their mortgaged assets.

In this case, police arrested 17 people on fraud charges in October 2025. Three drivers were granted bail after being detained, while the notary-related suspects Su, Hsiao, and Chou, involved in real estate lending, claimed they were just conducting normal client loans and were unaware of any scams, and were released on bail for NT$300,000.