TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Prosecutors on Monday indicted 28 people in a military draft-dodging scheme, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and singer Nine Chen (陳零九).

The indictment alleges that Wang, Chen, and 22 other draft-age men each paid between NT$50,000 and NT$500,000 (US$1,700–17,000) to four individuals led by a man named Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), per CNA. Prosecutors said NT$4.03 million changed hands from 2016 to January this year.

Chen and his group allegedly taught the conscripts how to manipulate blood pressure tests, either by holding their breath or by using paid stand-ins to wear 24-hour monitors. These results were then used to apply for a change in military status.

Local draft boards reclassified some conscripts from “active duty” to “exempt." The Ministry of the Interior’s Department of Conscription Administration later approved the changes and issued official exemption certificates.

Wang, who has spent much of his career abroad, allegedly paid NT$3.6 million to Chen. Investigators said Wang gave Chen his national ID and health insurance card so that an imposter could go to hospital appointments in his name.

However, Chen's imprisonment in January for unrelated charges prevented him from finishing Wang’s draft evasion. Wang then falsely reported his ID and insurance card as lost the following month.

Prosecutors concluded that the 28 defendants broke the law by unlawfully altering military classifications to evade conscription and instructing public officials to falsify official documents. Wang was specifically indicted for violating the Criminal Code by causing a public official to make false entries in official records.

Chen is accused of controlling the operation, which prosecutors said he turned into a business, illegally earning NT$7.63 million. He is also accused of recruiting accomplices to grow his scheme. 

Chen has been indicted on charges of obstructing military service, and prosecutors recommend that the court impose a sentence of at least five years in prison.