TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwanese manpower agency and the local branch of a money transfer company from the Philippines were conducting illegal money transfers between the two countries, reports said Friday (Jan. 8).

Two staff at the former and the manager of the latter company were indicted in the case, which generated an estimated NT$400 million (US$14.28 million) in illegal profits, CNA reported. A woman accused of involvement in the deals had fled to the Philippines, according to prosecutors.

The suspects began offering illegal money transfers to Filipino workers in Taiwan in 2017, and later expanded to target Taiwanese business people investing overseas. Prosecutors conducted raids against the suspects’ offices and homes in January last year, and rounded up their investigation recently.

The four suspects, two men and two women, were charged with violations of the Banking Act for illegal international money transfers.