Taiwanese Influencers Jailed In Cambodia For Live-Streaming Fake Abduction And Escape

Two Taiwanese influencers were sentenced to two years in prison in Cambodia after faking an abduction in the country, BBC reported. Chen Neng Chuan, 31, and Lu Tsu Hsien, 34, were arrested on Wednesday after they live-streamed two videos on YouTube, staging a forced abduction and escape.

Notably, Chen Neng-chuan, well known for his paranormal videos made in Taiwan, had teased on Instagram earlier in February that he was going to explore the ''dark corner'' in Cambodia, famous for notorious gangs kidnapping foreigners.

On the night of February 12, Chen started a livestream and claimed that he and his friend had broken into a scam compound in the Cambodian city of Sihanoukville in Preah Sihanouk province. He later claimed in the video that they were detained and beaten up by security guards before the livestream was cut off abruptly. Later, Chen's wife also posted on social media that her husband had gone missing.

#HistorieStreamerskie
Tajwański streamer został aresztowany w Kambodży po sfingowaniu własnego porwania podczas transmisji na żywo.

Chen Neng-chuan twierdził, że uciekał przed porwaniem, prezentując sfabrykowane podarte ubranie i obrażenia. Został zatrzymany przez kambodżańską… pic.twitter.com/F8rn8toWZv

— Linde (@00Linde) February 14, 2024

He resurfaced the next day via another live video and said that he escaped the dangerous clutches of the kidnappers.

However, many on social media were skeptical and found several holes in the story.

Online influencer Liu Yu played a crucial role in exposing the fake kidnapping, pinpointing Chen's location using the footage he had posted and showing discrepancies in their story, as per Straits Times.  Other inconsistencies, like ignoring nearby help and possessing filming equipment despite losing valuables, raised further doubts.

They were exposed for staging the entire event and later arrested by the Cambodian police from their hotel. Police also found masks, military uniforms, fake guns, fake blood, and other types of equipment in their possession, which were used for the fake kidnapping. 

According to a statement from the Sihanoukville provincial court, both men were sentenced to two years in prison and given a 4 million riel fine (Rs 82,988.)  The court found them guilty on charges of ''incitement to cause chaos to social security'' at a trial on Thursday.

Preah Sihanouk provincial court said in a statement, ''Both men had entered Cambodia to produce slanderous videos related to human trafficking, detention with torture, rape and selling human organs.''

The duo got down on their knees at the press conference begging for a second chance, but Governor Kuoch Chamroeun said what they did was a serious matter that cannot be resolved with simply a slap on the wrist.

''If we forgive them, there will be more who will come up with similar falsehoods to smear the image of Cambodia,'' said the governor.