TSMC Fake Share Sales Scam Leads To 8 Years In Jail For Woman

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A Taiwanese woman has been sentenced to prison today for her fraudulent actions in a fake share sale scheme targeting three women more than a decade ago. The woman had deceived her victims in 2013 and 2014, pretending to work for TSMC and Apple’s main manufacturing partner Foxconn, in order to persuade them to hand over their money for the opportunity to purchase stocks at discounted prices. Since then, TSMC’s stock has significantly increased, and the thief had stolen millions of Taiwan dollars from her victims.

Taiwanese Woman Sentenced to Prison for Involving TSMC and Foxconn in Stock Scam

Based on the information released by the United Daily News (UDN), a Chinese woman named Lin Lifen (translated by a machine) allegedly scammed four women out of approximately NT$30 million in 2013 and 2014. The scam reportedly revolved around Lin impersonating an employee of renowned companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Foxconn (also known as Hon Hain Precision) and persuading her victims to purchase the companies’ shares at a discounted price in order to generate a profit.

In 2013, Jian and her friend Lin, who first encountered the criminal Lin in 2012, became the first two victims to fall for her trap. According to the report, they had met Lin and had given her money between 2012 and 2013 to buy stocks at a discounted rate. However, they later discovered that Lin had not purchased any securities for them and was not employed by any of the companies.

During the scam, the first two women fell victim to Lin’s scheme a total of 34 times, resulting in a loss of NT$9.8 million. Out of this amount, Jian invested with Lin eight times for a total of NT$5.3 million, while the remaining NT$4.3 million was defrauded from the victim, Lin.

TSMC’s shares (TPE:2330) have gained more than 900% since 2012.

Without any restrictions, and possibly emboldened by the triumph of her initial con, Lin proceeded to target another individual. This time, she aimed even higher and convinced her victim, who coincidentally shared the same name, that she was investing in shares of the renowned Taiwanese consumer technology company, HTC, with a well-known Taiwanese socialite. The second scam proved to be even more profitable, as the victim Lin entrusted the criminal Lin with a staggering total of NT$22 million across three investments. However, it was later revealed that the supposed securities were non-existent, and Lin had attempted to abscond with the funds.

Despite the passing of a decade since the scam, Lin was sentenced to eight years in prison by a Taiwanese court today for her fraudulent actions. She was found guilty of using falsified documents to gain money. TSMC’s reputation in the Taiwanese stock market has been tarnished by numerous scandals, especially since its rise to success.

A Ponzi Scheme-like scam was exposed earlier this year, resulting in the arrest of a former TSMC engineer by Taiwanese authorities for his involvement in a $207 million fraud. Although the incident was not directly linked to TSMC’s stocks, the former employee enticed his colleagues and others by guaranteeing high returns on their investments, but ultimately used funds from new investors to make payouts.