Police arrested a woman, surnamed Chen, 56, and two men, surnamed Chen, 35, and Yang, 45, days earlier in Taichung and Changhua in connection with the fraud case.

A fourth member, surnamed Hsieh, was simultaneously arrested by police in China, along with two other Chinese nationals who operated from the mainland.

According to the CIB, the group posted advertisements for inexpensive items from name-brands such as Coach and Gucci, which were in reality fake.

Hsieh is believed by police to be the leader of the con operation.

The suspects started auctioning off their brand-name items in June of last year, filling out orders responsibly at first in order to gain their clients’ trust.

Their con was believable to the extent that they were even able to post links to some of the name-brands’ official Web sites, said the CIB.

The female Chen was in charge of customer service for Taiwanese clients, including taking care of orders and returns, said police.

She was also in charge of transferring the illicit funds to Hsieh in China, where the money was then withdrawn in the local currency.

This money laundering method made it difficult for police to track the funds.

All members of the con group have been handed over to the court and await trial.

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