Taiwanese police have dismantled a network of shell companies that moved billions through fake firms, a win for fraud victims and a blow to online gambling and scam operations.

• Police arrested 13 people, led by a 29-year-old man, who set up nine shell companies and opened 28 company bank accounts.
• The accounts handled more than NT$3.6 billion in dirty money in just over a year, moving gambling funds and paying wages to scam collectors.
• The ring kept all the bank books, company seals, and digital banking keys in one place so cash could be split and shuffled between accounts within minutes.
• The case broke open after a retired Taipei man in his 70s lost NT$50 million to a fake investment scam, and police traced a courier's pay back to one of the shell firms.

Outlook: The suspects now face fraud, money laundering, and organized crime charges in Taipei, and investigators are likely to keep pulling on the same money trail.