Taiwanese singer-actor Vic Chou and his actress wife Reen Yu have finally gotten justice after being cheated out of NT$34.47mil (RM5.04mil) by a friend surnamed Feng in 2021.
On Wednesday (Aug 6), it is reported that the Taipei District Court in Taiwan had sentenced Feng – who was working as an insurance agent – to two years and eight months in prison for embezzlement, with the option to appeal.
According to reports, Yu invested in a six-year high value savings insurance from Feng under Chou's name in 2019 and had to pay a premium of more than NT$6.85mil (RM1mil) per instalment.
Although the initial agreement was to have the money automatically debited from Yu's account, Feng managed to convince the couple to pay in cash from their second payment onwards – claiming that a periodic transfer of millions may arouse suspicions of laundering.
Feng had since been pretending to pay the insurance company using the money she had received from Yu, 35.
It wasn't until 2021 that the deception was uncovered after Yu and Chou, 42, called for an investigation when they received a notice reminding them to pay despite already handing over the instalment to Feng.
Feng confessed that she had kept the money she received but denied scamming the couple.
However, a representative of the insurance agency later confirmed that Yu and Chou were indeed victims of fraud as there were no special promotions or discounts for cash payments as claimed by Feng.
Chou is a former member of Taiwanese boy band F4. He married Yu in 2015 and the couple have a daughter.
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