NTU student pretends to be a "professional futures trader" and loses 55.5 million to acquaintances, even ending up in the red! The police officer father abuses authority to help his son settle the matter

Taiwanese top student claims to have “professional overseas trading” qualifications, secretly absorbing familiar people's funds to operate overseas futures trading. In just over a year, he managed over 55.5 million NT dollars in principal but lost it all, leading to his father, a police officer, stepping in to cover his debts illegally.
(Background recap: Taiwanese biotech boss went all-in on cryptocurrency and was scammed out of 50 million NT dollars! He was then coerced into mortgaging his house to “recoup” the losses)
(Additional background: In 2026, the debate over “stablecoins as EasyCard” continues. How many more nonsense words will Taiwan's traditionalists spout?)

The boldness of this Taiwanese student is also remarkable. The Shilin District Prosecutors' Office recently concluded an investigation into a case combining illegal trading operations and police misconduct in investment fraud. The defendant, 27-year-old Mr. Li, a graduate of Taiwan University, is accused of claiming to hold a “U.S. futures manager license” from February 2022 to April 2023. He portrayed himself as a “professional overseas futures trader,” but in reality, he never obtained the futures manager license issued by the Financial Supervisory Commission, illegally raising funds to operate.

According to the indictment, Mr. Li targeted acquaintances around him, claiming to have “short-term professional overseas futures trading experience with impressive performance” to attract investors. He secretly solicited funds from six creditors and friends, including two creditors Liu and Cao, a senior student surnamed Luo from Taiwan University, a supervisor surnamed Chen from a cram school, Aunt Chen, and a friend introduced by Liu. He provided accounts at Cathay United Bank and China Trust Bank, requesting the investors to transfer funds into these accounts, then used his own futures account to place trades.

During the fund operations, he is accused of altering trading details to create a false impression of “continuous profits,” but in reality, the investments resulted in losses. Prosecutors believe that the total funds involved exceeded 55 million NT dollars, but instead of making profits, he ultimately lost about 8.48 million NT dollars.

In October 2023, Mr. Li Youjie admitted that his futures trading “had been completely lost,” and investors immediately filed charges, bringing the case to light.

The Shilin District Prosecutors' Office has indicted Mr. Li Youjie for violating the Futures Trading Act and for fraud.

Police father “blocks debt collectors” by accessing police system for personal info

The case further involves the defendant's father. Mr. Li Jinshan, a former senior squad leader of the Investigation Team at Wanhua Precinct, Taipei City, is the father of Mr. Li. When his son suffered investment losses and was pursued by creditors, between October and November 2023, he falsely claimed to be “performing criminal-related duties” and repeatedly logged into police systems to look up personal information of creditors Liu and Cao.

Later, father and son met with the creditors at a café and a nightclub in Zhongshan District, Taipei City, to discuss repayment. During the process, Li Jinshan repeatedly hinted that he knew the background of the creditors. According to the court ruling, he directly told Liu, “I know your dad is from Keelung, nickname Ah Fu,” and pretended to be familiar with Liu's sister, accurately reporting Liu's birth date and address, and explicitly stating “I know where you live,” creating an information advantage to pressure them.

Before the case was officially exposed, Li Jinshan learned he was reported to authorities and chose to retire early on July 16, 2024. However, the Shilin District Court still sentenced him to 2 years in prison, suspended for 3 years, and ordered him to pay 200,000 NT dollars to the public treasury for the crime of “illegally collecting personal data under false pretenses.” Regarding administrative responsibility, the disciplinary court imposed a fine of 100,000 NT dollars.

Investors should seek legitimate third-party operators. Only those licensed by reputable institutions (such as fund management companies or investment consulting firms) with full authorization from the Financial Supervisory Commission to operate investment management are legal for delegated trading.