The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office today urged the owner of the Dr. Shine (光澤) medical aesthetics clinic chain to return to Taiwan from China to face an investigation into a hidden camera scandal, after two executives were detained incommunicado for allegedly destroying evidence.
Prosecutors in a news release said that Dr. Shine owner Wang Chao-huei (王朝輝) traveled to China before the scandal broke and has not yet returned, calling on him to swiftly return to clarify his role in the case.
Following a recent hidden camera scandal involving the Aierli (愛爾麗) clinic chain, a member of the public on Tuesday last week reported finding what appeared to be a disguised camera lens at Dr. Shine’s Zhongshan branch in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋).
Photo: Huang Chia-lin, Taipei Times
After police received the report early on Friday, prosecutors directed the New Taipei City Police Department’s Women and Children Protection Brigade and local precincts to raid five Dr. Shine branches in the city’s Banciao, Sansia (三峽), Sanchong (三重) and Sinjhuang (新莊) districts, accompanied by Department of Health inspectors.
During the raids, investigators found traces of removed surveillance cameras at the Zhongshan, Guancian and Sanchong branches, prosecutors said.
Police traced the removal to a man surnamed Chen (陳), the group’s operations director and manager of the Zhongshan branch, and a man surnamed Tang (唐), head of the information technology department, they said.
After questioning, prosecutors said they suspected Chen and Tang of offenses including secretly recording sexual images and private body parts without consent, and attempting to produce sexual images of minors.
The New Taipei District Court on Saturday approved a request to detain the two men incommunicado due to the risk of flight and collusion with accomplices or witnesses.
Five other workers involved in the case were released on bail of NT$500,000 each after questioning.
Prosecutors urged potential victims contacted by the police to cooperate in confirming their identities and to consider pressing charges.
People who suspect they were filmed can also contact the police to check if they appear in the retained footage, they added.
Meanwhile, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office today said it has seized evidence and questioned witnesses in an investigation into suspected hidden cameras at a Dr. Shine branch in the city’s Sanmin District (三民).
The task force seized computer hosts, hard drives and other evidence during the raid conducted on Friday last week, it said.
Anyone who visited or received treatment at the Sanmin clinic between Jan. 1 and Friday last week is urged to contact a dedicated hotline established by the Kaohsiung Department of Health to seek legal assistance and counseling, prosecutors said.
The hotline can be reached at (07) 713-4000, extensions 5801, 5802 and 5803.