A customer of Chunghwa Telecom Co. has been ordered to pay the company NT$17 million (US$559,21) in damages, after he was sued for reselling 3,525 cellphones he had obtained under Chunghwa’s preferential contracts, the New Taipei District Court said in recent ruling.

The man, surnamed Lin (?), began running the scam in 2016, after he set up a one-man company that purportedly was conducting research into the wireless charging of iPhones, according to a court ruling issued on Feb. 13.

Under the guise of a business customer, Lin applied for 1,389 phone numbers, between April 2016 and August 2017, under Chunghwa Telecom’s preferential subscription packages for business clients, the court said.

With the subscription contracts, Lin obtained 3,525 cellphones, including iPhone and Samsung Galaxy models, which he paid little or nothing for. He then resold the mobile phones to vendors and wholesale businesses at low prices, according to the ruling.

During the 15-month period, he rejected Chunghwa Telecom’s requests to visit his so-called company, saying that he had contracts with government authorities and the military to conduct research and it would be inappropriate for Chunghwa representatives to visit, the court said.

Lin, who lived in New Taipei, also said he could not facilitate Chunghwa Telecom’s requests because his company had to safeguard its trade secrets, according to the ruling.

Chunghwa Telecom became suspicious in September 2017, however, when Lin began making repeated requests for extension of his monthly payments of his expensive 30-month subscription package, the court said.

When the telecom company figured out that it was being scammed, it reported Lin to police and filed criminal and civil lawsuits against him.

In the civil case, the court ordered Lin to pay damages of NT$17.64 million, which would accrue an annual interest rate of 5 percent if it is not paid in full. The case is subject to appeal, the court said.

The criminal case, meanwhile, also implicated a female employee at Chunghwa Telecom, who was sentenced last year to 16 months in prison for colluding with Lin, while he was given a 20-month prison sentence.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel