Taiwanese actor Darren Wang has been sentenced to six months in jail after being found guilty of unlawfully obtaining personal data, following a ruling by the New Taipei District Court on April 22.
His girlfriend, entertainer Chueh Mu-hsuan, was handed the same sentence after being convicted in a separate case under Taiwan’s Personal Data Protection Act. Both individuals are eligible under local law to convert their jail terms into fines.
According to Taiwanese media reports, the case is linked to a wider investigation involving allegations that Wang, 34, attempted to evade mandatory military service by paying NT$3.6 million (approximately S$145,000) to an illegal conscription-avoidance syndicate. He was also accused of faking a heart condition to secure exemption.
Prosecutors said that after suspecting he had been defrauded by the syndicate, Wang sought assistance to trace those involved. This led to contact with an associate who later reached out to a police officer, who then allegedly accessed confidential databases and passed on personal information through intermediaries.
Further investigations revealed that Wang’s involvement extended into efforts to track down individuals linked to an investment scam in which his girlfriend had reportedly lost around NT$4 million. A messaging group was created to coordinate attempts to identify the suspected scammer, during which personal data of the individual and their family members was allegedly obtained through unofficial channels.
Although Wang denied directly accessing illegal data, the court found that both he and Chueh were involved in the unlawful handling and use of personal information.
Wang, who rose to fame through the hit romance film Our Times (2015), had already begun his mandatory military service in March 2025. In Taiwan, all able-bodied men are required to complete one year of service before the age of 36.
In a related ruling, the police officer involved in the case was sentenced to one year and four months in jail for misconduct and document forgery, with no option of a fine.
