The owners of Taichung hotpot chain Danshuigun have been missing for more than 100 days after leaving Taiwan in late May, and prosecutors have now placed four people on a wanted list in an alleged illegal fundraising case.
Taichung prosecutors said on July 15 they issued warrants for husband and wife Huang Qunrui and Hong Yiying, their daughter, and a Chen-surnamed accountant. Their passports were also revoked. Prosecutors are investigating suspected illegal fundraising, fraud, and possible violations of Taiwan’s Banking Act.
Victim and loss figures remain unverified
The numbers most often cited in local coverage are nearly 500 victims and losses that could reach NT$5 billion. Those figures, though, have generally appeared as estimates or market rumor rather than confirmed findings. Local talk in Taichung has also suggested the family may have moved from China to Southeast Asia, but police have not verified that claim.
Authorities have publicly identified four wanted individuals. Beyond Huang and Hong, the list includes their daughter and an accountant surnamed Chen. The couple’s broader business group has since come to a halt. Businesses under the “Dan” group, including Danshuigun Hotpot, Danqutao Travel Agency, Dandiekan Investigation Agency, and Danwu Duel Arts Company, have all shut down. The travel agency’s license was also revoked by the Tourism Administration.
Restaurant closed for more than three months
The hotpot restaurant on Minsheng Road in Daya District has been closed for more than three months. A rental banner was put up in September. The landlord also posted a notice saying he had been caught off guard as well and asked victims not to damage the property.
The timing of the family’s departure has drawn scrutiny. Huang and Hong left Taiwan just before the restaurant shut down, checks reportedly bounced, and investment disputes came into public view. Some investors have questioned whether the couple already knew a financial crisis was about to break.
They joined a tour to China, then disappeared
According to the case details cited in local reporting, Danqutao Travel Agency handled a Jiangnan tour in China in late May for about eight local association officials. Huang and Hong flew from Taoyuan Airport to Shanghai on May 28 to meet the group. After traveling together for two days, they split from the tour and could no longer be reached. Their eldest daughter and eldest son left Taiwan on May 31.
The case became public on June 2. On that day, investors who said they had not received interest payments went to the hotpot restaurant and tried to remove items. Staff called police. After looking into the matter, Daya Precinct found signs of an investment dispute and referred the case to prosecutors.
Plan offered NT$7,500 a month on NT$300,000
According to Liberty Times, the couple started in private lending and financing and had built extensive local connections through Lions Club activities, temples, and charity work. They allegedly solicited funds from friends, local association officials, and elderly community members. The projects they promoted included real estate investment, second-mortgage private lending, and small-scale lending known locally as “fang jiao zai,” while claiming the business could generate stable returns.
One offer made to elderly community members was an investment of NT$300,000 with monthly interest of NT$7,500. That works out to 2.5% a month, or 30% of principal in annual interest alone. On payout days, the couple were said to deliver cash to investors’ homes in person, allowing some elderly investors to receive returns without using bank accounts. Those payments stopped suddenly in May.
Employees and taekwondo coaches were also affected
Victims were not limited to relatives and local groups. Employees at the hotpot business and the travel agency were also affected, with some reportedly rolling their monthly wages directly into the investment scheme. Hong also served as chair of the Taichung Taekwondo Committee. In June, reports said about 30 taekwondo coaches had suffered losses exceeding NT$100 million. The Chinese Taipei Taekwondo Association later helped set up a self-help group.
At one stage, 339 victims had joined a self-help group, with preliminary losses estimated in the hundreds of millions of New Taiwan dollars. In early July, Daya Precinct said that about one month after the case broke, more than 60 people had completed police statements and filed fraud complaints, roughly one-eighth of the widely circulated victim count. Police told United Daily News in June that claimed losses would still need to be backed by concrete evidence such as IOUs.
Actual losses still under review
United Daily News also reported at the time that Huang, Hong, and their two children were rumored to hold more than 20 real estate properties, including homes and land in Taichung’s Phase 7 redevelopment area and Nantun District. Even so, the actual scale of losses in the case remains under review by prosecutors.
Based on the information now public, the “nearly 500 victims” and “up to NT$5 billion” figures remain estimates repeated in local discussion and media coverage, not confirmed findings by investigators. As for the couple’s whereabouts, the only confirmed public timeline is that they flew to Shanghai on May 28 and then disappeared from contact. A September rumor that the family later moved to Southeast Asia has not been confirmed by police.