By KHT Staff. AI illustration image.
TAINAN — The getaway motorcycle was ready. The newly hired colleague had been sent away. But after allegedly taking NT$14.5 million from an armored truck on Thursday, Oct. 8, a security guard and three men accused of helping him hide embarked on a spending spree that included three Mercedes-Benz cars, new phones and a visit to a Taichung hostess club.
Their escape lasted only days.
The guard, surnamed Kuo (郭), allegedly drove off during a cash collection and replenishment run on Jiankang Road (健康路) on Oct. 8 after finding an excuse to separate himself from his colleague.
He abandoned the truck on Yongcheng Road (永成路), removed the cash and switched to a motorcycle parked there in advance, according to CNA’s account of the police investigation.
Kuo then allegedly received help from three men surnamed Liu (劉), Wang (王) and another Kuo. All four are younger than 30.
The purchases followed: three secondhand Mercedes-Benz vehicles and new mobile phones. The group also went to a Taichung hostess club, according to TVBS’s report on the spending spree.
Meanwhile, investigators were reviewing surveillance footage and tracing their movements. Officers arrested the four in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯區) and Tainan’s East District (東區).
Police recovered the remaining NT$12.55 million in cash and seized the vehicles and phones.
The Police Broadcasting Service said prosecutors referred the four on suspicion of occupational embezzlement and money laundering. A court ordered their detention and barred them from outside contact.
Police are investigating whether anyone else was involved.
