Taiwan Auctions Off Prince Group's Crime Proceeds, Hermès Crocodile Bag in the Spotlight

The Taiwan Ministry of Justice will convert to cash and auction off 33 seized items, including designer bags, branded shoes, tea sets, and more, involved in the Prince Group fraud case. Also up for auction are 27 plots of land, columbarium niches, stocks, and women’s clothing in Taipei and New Taipei, calling for the public’s enthusiastic participation.

The Shilin Branch of the Administrative Enforcement Agency stated on the 27th that a property auction for movable assets of the defendant surnamed Lee of the Prince Group will be held on February 3rd. Among the most notable items is a matte crocodile skin Hermès Birkin bag in a lemon-yellow shade with palladium hardware.

Headed by Chen Zhi, the Prince Group engaged in fraudulent activity in Cambodia and established a vast corporate network for money laundering across several countries. On October 8th last year, U.S. federal prosecutors indicted Chen Zhi and his associates. On October 15th, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office initiated an investigation into the Prince Group’s money laundering case, launching multiple search operations and successfully seeking detention and incommunicado orders for nine individuals.

The Shilin Branch stated in a press release that the auction for the Prince Group defendant Lee’s confiscated movable assets entrusted by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office will be held at around 10:30 am on February 3 on the first floor auction room of the Shilin Branch. Additionally, a '123 Joint Auction' will be held in the same room at about 3 pm the same afternoon, inviting the public to participate in bidding.

According to the Shilin Branch, during the investigation of the Prince Group’s fraud case, multiple crime proceeds were seized from the defendant surnamed Lee, including secondhand luxury bags such as HERMÈS, STEFANO RICCI, CHROME HEARTS, GOYARD, PRADA, BALENCIAGA, DIESEL; secondhand designer shoes such as CHANEL, CHRISTIAN DIOR, BALENCIAGA, JORDAN, NIKE; as well as tea sets, totaling 33 items.

The press release emphasized that the matte crocodile skin Hermès Birkin bag is the highlight of the auction; there are also multiple classic JORDAN series sneakers. In order to quickly compensate victims for property losses, the above luxury items will be auctioned by the Shilin Branch as entrusted during the investigation.