A Painful and Unbearable Memory: Feelings of Disillusionment with the Justice System — Interview Stories of a Dummy Account Case, Part 1

"I really do not want to recall those things, because the feeling is just like being raped all over again!" said Lee Yu-hsueh (pseudonym) in the interview. He was furious at Taiwan's judicial system, furious at the malice of human nature, and furious at himself for foolishly falling into another person's trap. At that time, he simply wanted to apply for a job listed in the newspaper, never imagining it would ultimately turn into a crime. What was even more unexpected was that the judicial system he once earnestly placed his hopes in not only failed to deliver him justice, but handed him a figurative death sentence.

Falling Prey to Fraud While Job Hunting

Yu-hsueh's parents divorced when he was young, and he grew up living with his father, barely scraping by on low-income household subsidies. He originally thought that being admitted to a prestigious university would allow him to escape poverty; however, his father passed away during his college years, leaving only his younger brother to rely on each other. After finally finishing his mandatory military service, Yu-hsueh happened to see a newspaper advertisement recruiting drivers for weekend part-time jobs, which seemed to offer a ray of hope for him amid his difficult financial circumstances.

Yu-hsueh called the number in the newspaper advertisement to inquire about the job duties. The person on the other end told him that the job entailed driving hostesses to hotels, after which the hotel front desk staff would transfer the payment from the hostesses' sex work into his account, from which he would withdraw his and the hostesses' wages. The other party also claimed to be worried that existing credit card debts might render his account unusable and prevent wage withdrawals, thereby requiring him to hand over his ATM card and PIN to an accounting lady for verification. To Yu-hsueh, while the nature of the job might not appear entirely proper from a societal perspective, the work itself was simple—he only needed to be responsible for driving. Although he felt somewhat uneasy about providing his ATM card and PIN, he thought there was little money in the account, meaning there would be no property loss; coupled with his pressing financial need in reality, he agreed to hand over the ATM card and PIN in person. On the day of the exchange, he specifically instructed the other party that they were only to be used for verification purposes. However, within approximately one to two hours, fraud victims wired funds into the account he had handed over, and the money was swiftly withdrawn completely.

Nowhere to Turn for Help

In the middle of the night following the handover of the ATM card, Yu-hsueh received an SMS notification from the bank stating that abnormal transactions had occurred in the account. Not knowing what had happened, Yu-hsueh anxiously waited until the bank opened the next morning to inquire immediately. The bank informed him of abnormal fund flows in his account, prompting him to rush to the police station to file a report. However, the police refused to accept the crime report on the grounds that his account had been designated as an alert account, and that his legal status was that of a criminal suspect rather than a victim.

Yu-hsueh felt profoundly bewildered: he was clearly a victim, so why had he become a criminal suspect? And why did the police refuse to accept his report? Nevertheless, he firmly believed that prosecutors would help ascertain the truth, judges would make correct determinations, and the judicial system would eventually deliver him justice. However, rather than helping him investigate evidence (such as surveillance footage and call detail records), the prosecutor bluntly asked him during the interrogation whether he was willing to apologize to the victims. Yu-hsueh felt furious—apologizing is what the perpetrator must do, whereas he was a victim! He had neither defrauded anyone nor taken anyone's money! Why should he apologize? He began to question whether the prosecutor was genuinely investigating the case, or whether the prosecutor had already formed a preconceived conclusion of his guilt. Even so, he still held onto a glimmer of hope, wishing the judge would hear his voice and deliver him justice.

Is the Judiciary a Sword of Justice or a Concealed Weapon?

In the cold courtroom, he stood entirely alone, facing inquiries from the judge in addition to questioning from the prosecutor. Yu-hsueh felt isolated in court, as everyone questioned him: "Why did you hand over the ATM card and PIN?" Ultimately, he was found guilty and sentenced to 50 days of detention. The reasoning in the written judgment relied on the standard, formulaic narrative: the government had conducted extensive publicity campaigns, handing over an ATM card and PIN during job hunting defied common sense, and so forth. Yet for someone struggling with severe hardship, how could he have anticipated all of this?

However, a remark made by the second-instance appellate judge served as the decisive factor leading to Yu-hsueh's complete disillusionment with the judiciary: "The sentence imposed on you in the first instance has little impact on you; at most, you just cannot enter the judicial system to work!" To him, those words were indelibly seared into his memory. Recalling the time before the incident occurred, he had hoped to excel through studying and examinations to rise in life and break free from poverty. Yet this judgment shattered his dreams and annihilated his trust in the judiciary.

The justice he once anticipated resulted in a sequence of disappointments, ranging from the police's refusal to accept his crime report, to the prosecutor's passive investigative stance, and ultimately to the judge's presumption of guilt. Yu-hsueh resents the judicial system, but resents even more his own trusting nature—believing in the other party's goodwill that the surrendered ATM card and PIN would only be used to test the account. He told us that because of this incident, he has built a thick wall between himself and others, and no longer harbors any expectations of obtaining relief for his case. He only hopes that the general public becomes aware of mule account schemes, preventing more individuals from being defrauded and subjected to unwarranted injustice.