Canada asked to find, deport celebrity blogger
Glamorous Lady Nai Nai and two others wanted in $42M Taiwanese fraud case
In a well-publicized, high-stakes, geopolitical spat, Beijing has been calling on Ottawa to release a tech executive.
And now in other intriguing news, officials in Taipei are asking Ottawa to help find and deport from Canada a celebrity blogger accused of fleeing Taiwan with millions in stolen funds from a highend cosmetic surgery clinic.
Su Chen Tuan, a glamorous influencer better known as Lady Nai Nai, built a following in Taiwan for her beauty and lifestyle tips. She’s alleged to have helped defraud clients and investors of more than $42 million, declaring her business bankrupt, getting on a plane to the U.S. and ending up somewhere in Eastern Canada, starting first on Prince Edward Island.
The unfolding story has captured the interest of some Taiwanese-- Canadians in B.C. who first started talking about the case, informally, in an online group among themselves.
Their Facebook page was recently discovered by reporters working feverishly in Taiwan, and now they see themselves as part of a bigger effort to share information and maybe expose the exact whereabouts of Su, her husband Huang Po Chien and father-in-law Huang Li Hsiung.
All are named as being wanted by Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice.
“We cannot actually do anything, of course, but I was just thinking we could help put some pressure on the situation by spreading the details and making it harder for them to hide,” said Sophie Lin, a Richmond resident.
She keeps up with current events in Taiwan even though she’s lived in B.C. for more than 20 years and said she and “most Taiwanese feel some shame. It’s a loss of face, on both sides, my Canadian side and my Taiwanese side, to think of these people who have all this money and who are hiding here.”
Alleged victims in Taiwan claim they were duped of millions of dollars when a cosmetic surgery clinic in Taipei run by Su and her husband abruptly closed last December. Some said they paid in advance for various services and others were highly leveraged investors in the business.
Canada doesn’t have diplomatic ties or an extradition treaty with Taiwan. Canada officially recognizes mainland China or the People’s Republic of China, which does not consider Taiwan a sovereign nation, rather part of its territory.
This means countries that diplomatically recognize mainland China and Beijing cannot have official government relations with Taiwan.
Despite this, it’s still possible for agreements to be made on a case-by-case situation, according to lawyers.
On the delicate situation, Alice Wang, senior assistant director of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vancouver, which serves as a de facto representative group, said Canada and Taiwan have a close relationship with each actively promoting economic trade and tourism.
“We respect the procedures within Canada, and we hope Canada can help deport these three people,” said Wang.