Taiwan loses up to $156 Million (5 Billion Taiwan Dollars) in lost taxes due to cigarette smuggling activities.

The Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation states that almost 10 percent of the cigarette market in Taiwan consists of smuggled cigarettes.

Source:  “New way of cigarette smuggling discovered,” The China Post, March 9, 2010.

Taiwan’s sex industry is estimated to generate 60 Billion Taiwan Dollars ($1.84 Billion US) a year in revenue.

Source:  AFP, “Taiwan court to scrap ‘unfair’ law on prostitutes,” Google News, November 7, 2009.

The Former President of Taiwan was detained by police for corruption.

From the IHT:

Chen Shui-bian, the former president of Taiwan, was detained by the police in Taipei on Tuesday after prosecutors sought his formal arrest on corruption and money laundering charges, according to Taipei television.

Chen, who served as president from 2000 until earlier this year and headed the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, was led to court in handcuffs Tuesday afternoon. He paused briefly before cameras, raised his arms up over his head and shouted: “Long live Taiwanese independence” and “political oppression.”

The Former President of Taiwan has admitted to wiring money to a bank in Switzerland as part of a corruption investigation.

From the AP (via the IHT):

Taiwan will enlist the help of U.S. and Singaporean authorities in an investigation into alleged money laundering by former President Chen Shui-bian, an official said.

Taiwan has been working with Swiss authorities with a probe into the financial dealings of Chen, who admitted wiring US$20 million to his daughter-in-law’s Swiss bank account, said Vice Justice Minister Huang Shih-ming.

The inquiries will be extended to Singapore and the United States, where part of that money is suspected to have been forwarded or transferred, Huang said.

Chen admitted last week that he broke the law by not fully disclosing campaign donations he had received, after a lawmaker alleged that Chen’s son and daughter-in-law moved the money to Switzerland in 2007, and then forwarded the funds to the Cayman Islands.

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry subsequently confirmed that Swiss authorities had asked the island to cooperate in the case.

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