The death of a crypto finance investigator has been ruled an accident by prosecutors after conspiracy theories online claimed she was murdered by criminal gangs for digging into cryptocurrency money laundering schemes.
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00:00Caught on dashcam, this is the traffic collision that inspired a slew of criminal conspiracies.
00:06In the early hours of December 4th, on a freeway in northern Taiwan, Chen Meihui, a financial
00:12crime investigator for virtual currency exchange XREX, was killed in the back of a taxi after
00:19it was rear-ended.
00:20Despite accusations of foul play, the collision has been ruled an accident.
00:40Theories surfaced that Chen Mei have been targeted by criminal gangs, after it was revealed
00:46that she herself had been questioned by prosecutors just hours before the incident, alongside
00:52her boyfriend and the owner of XREX, on suspicion of leaking information.
00:57With cryptocurrencies untraceable, criminal gangs have increasingly used them in their
01:02activities.
01:04Further fuelling rumours of a planned killing, media reports that Chen had worked on a high-profile
01:09fraud case involving the infamous 88 Guildhall in Taipei, a guesthouse frequented by high-ranking
01:16politicians including the leader of Taiwan's third party, Ke Wen-je, who remains in detention
01:22pending a corruption investigation.
01:26But with prosecutors dismissing claims of a premeditated attack, the driver of the second
01:31vehicle was charged with death by negligence, after it was confirmed he was a taxi driver
01:37speeding to bring a couple to the airport.
01:40These findings seemingly enough to quell Chen's family's suspicions.
01:55Despite the evidence, some remain doubtful, convinced of foul play by fast-spreading rumours
02:02online, and Taiwan's ongoing problem with tech-savvy organised crime.
02:07But for Chen's family at least, some closure, as she's finally laid to rest, alongside their
02:13doubts that she was killed in cold blood.
02:16Devin Cai and Rhys Ayres for Taiwan Plus.