Taiwanese actor Wang Ta-lu, once dubbed an “icon of first love,” was sentenced in a first trial to prison for illegally obtaining and using personal information.
Taiwan’s Central News Agency and other outlets reported that the New Taipei District Court on Tuesday sentenced Wang and his girlfriend to six months in prison each. Under Taiwan law, the sentence can be commuted by paying a fine.
In the same case, Liu Ju-lung, a police official, was sentenced to one year and four months for charges related to false documents. A friend of Wang, identified only by the surname Yu, and a member of an organized crime group were each sentenced to three months in prison.
The case stemmed from a military service issue. Prosecutors searched Wang’s home in February 2025, and he was released on bail the same day after paying 150,000 New Taiwan dollars. Authorities said then that Wang had already passed the age limit for deferring service and was scheduled to enlist on March 13, 2025. He later began a one-year alternative service term as planned.
In June that year, the investigation widened to a broader draft-broker ring. Prosecutors indicted 28 people, including Wang, saying he paid 3.6 million New Taiwan dollars to Chen Chih-ming, identified as the ringleader, in an attempt to evade service. Prosecutors also said Wang handed over his ID card and national health insurance card so another person could receive hospital treatment in his place, then arranged to have the documents reissued by making it appear they had been lost.
Wang’s draft-evasion trial has proceeded separately from Tuesday’s six-month sentence. In court in November 2025, Wang bowed his head and called it a “mistake committed out of ignorance.” Prosecutors sought a one-year prison term on document-related charges.
The personal data case involved two tracks. First, prosecutors said Wang sought to look up Chen’s personal information after losing contact with him. They said Wang, through an acquaintance, approached Liu, then a police official, who accessed the police database under a false pretext, retrieved Chen’s personal data and passed it outside. Liu argued in court it was “sent by mistake,” but the court rejected the claim.
Second, prosecutors said Wang’s girlfriend claimed she had been swindled out of more than 4 million New Taiwan dollars by a man identified only by the surname Pan during her earlier live-commerce work. Prosecutors said Wang, his girlfriend and Yu created a WeChat chat room in November 2024 to discuss how to recover the money. Investigators said an organized crime figure became involved and obtained and provided personal information — including addresses and phone numbers — for Pan and people around him.
During the trial, Wang and his girlfriend denied the charges, saying they did not directly order anyone to retrieve personal data. The court found both guilty of violating the Personal Data Protection Act and sentenced each to six months in prison. Wang’s side said through his lawyer after the ruling that he plans to appeal.
Wang debuted as an advertising model in 2008 and became a star with the 2015 film “Our Times.” He visited South Korea in 2019 to promote the release of the film “Fall in Love at First Kiss.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.