TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwanese prosecutors announced Wednesday (May 6) the indictment of a television journalist on charges of accepting Chinese funding to produce anti-recall campaign content. Lin Chen-you (林宸佑), a former anchor at CTi News (中天新聞), also allegedly acted as an intermediary to bribe military personnel for classified information, prosecutors said.
Lin, who hosted a YouTube program called "What's Up with Madeh?" (馬德有事嗎？), faces charges under Taiwan's Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), Anti-Money Laundering Act (洗錢防制法), and Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). The Qiaotou District Prosecutors Office (橋頭地檢署) requested sentences of seven years for bribery, five years for anti-infiltration violations, and five years for money laundering. Prosecutors requested separate sentencing, seeking a combined 12 years in prison.
Lin was detained on Jan. 16 after prosecutors executed search warrants at his residence and workplace. A court approved his pretrial detention the following day, and his detention was extended for two months in March. He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday for a hearing on continued detention. Neither Lin nor any legal representative has publicly commented on the charges.
Prosecutors alleged Lin received 4,325 Tether (USDT) cryptocurrency tokens from a Chinese contact identified only by the surname Huang (黃). The tokens, a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, were allegedly payment for producing videos opposing recall campaigns against legislators. Lin allegedly submitted scripts to Huang for approval before broadcast and reported viewership data afterward, prosecutors said.
Beyond the media allegations, prosecutors accused Lin of serving as a "white glove" intermediary for Chinese intelligence to bribe Taiwanese military personnel. Lin allegedly used his personal bank accounts to funnel Chinese funds. He first received cryptocurrency through exchanges including Binance (幣安) and OKX, then converted the funds to New Taiwan dollars before transferring payments to soldiers, prosecutors said.
Six current and former military personnel were also indicted. Prosecutors alleged they received bribes ranging from NT$70,000 to NT$1.74 million (around US$2,200 to US$55,000). The payments were allegedly made in exchange for photographing classified military documents and filming videos pledging allegiance to China's People's Liberation Army.
The case emerged from an investigation into Marine Corps Sgt. Chen Jui-yung (陳瑞勇) who allegedly filmed a video holding a Chinese flag and pledging allegiance to the PLA. Chen allegedly received NT$200,000 (around US$6,300) after being approached through a loan company while struggling with credit card debt, prosecutors said. Investigators traced the funding back to Lin.
"As a well-known news media worker, [Lin] should have fulfilled the function of supervising the government and protecting the public's right to know," the prosecutors office said in a statement. "Yet for payment, he long cooperated with hostile foreign forces." Prosecutors characterized Lin's conduct as "unforgivable" and said it "gravely endangered national security."
The case will be heard by professional judges rather than a citizen jury panel under Taiwan's Citizen Judges Act (國民法官法). Prosecutors requested the court exclude citizen judges because the case involves classified national security information that cannot be disclosed in open proceedings, the prosecutors office said.
CTi News has not issued any public statement regarding the case or its former employee. It was not immediately clear whether Lin was still employed by the station at the time of the alleged offenses or whether the company has conducted any internal review. The station did not immediately respond to requests for comment. ◼ (At time of reporting, US$1 equals approximately NT$31.67)