《TAIPEI TIMES》Ten people indicted over university fraud scheme

TARGETING UGANDAN APPLICANTS: A university allegedly forced the students to work 200 hours per month while temporarily subsisting on sugar water

By Yen Hung-chun and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

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The Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted 10 people over their alleged involvement in an illegal work scheme that tricked foreign students into enrolling in universities in Taiwan, where they ended up working in low-paid factory jobs.

Those indicted include university staff, employees at foreign worker brokerages, and Miaoli County Government and National Immigration Agency officials, prosecutors said.

They were charged with breaching the Human Trafficking Prevention Act （人口販運防制法）, the Anti-Corruption Act （貪污治罪條例） and other criminal offenses, they said.

Chung Chou University of Science and Technology in 2019 allegedly sought to recruit 139 students from Uganda through a Taiwanese of Ugandan descent surnamed Lin （林）, as the school faced a shortfall of local applicants, prosecutors said.

The school allegedly promised prospective Ugandan students generous scholarships and internships in the high-tech industry, they said.

However, only 16 Ugandans started studying at the school, allegedly prompting Department of Student Affairs director Chai Fang-wu （柴鈁武） to try to “recoup the school’s investment” by having the students work illegally and pocketing part of their salaries, prosecutors said.

Department of Continuing Education director Lan Su-ling （藍素鈴） allegedly reached out to the owner of a Miaoli-based foreign worker brokerage firm surnamed Chen （陳） to collaborate on the scheme, they said.

The school allegedly had also worked with Chen’s company to recruit students from Eswatini, they said.

The school allegedly told the 16 Ugandans upon arrival that they were each NT$100,000 （US$3,136） in debt and that they would have to pay it off while they were studying, they said.

The students allegedly worked up to 200 hours per month, while living in insufficiently equipped dorms and being given scant food, at one point forcing them to subsist on sugar water, they said.

The students allegedly received less than NT$20,000 per month each and the promised scholarship payments were withheld, they said.

The incident was first reported in January by independent news outlet The Reporter, which cited one of the students as its source.

The hours the Ugandan students allegedly worked far exceeded the maximum legal working hours in Taiwan, prosecutors said.

Chen had “good relations” with Miaoli County Labor and Youth Development Department Director Tu Jung-hui （涂榮輝）, who allegedly helped the school in its attempt to cover up the case, prosecutors said.

Tu allegedly forced his subordinates to overlook the matter and prevented the company at which the students worked from being fined, prosecutors said, adding that Chen made NT$2 million in profit from the deal.

Additional reporting by CNA

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES