Shangxi Jewelry pawned its customers' gems for NT$600M and vanished

Shangxi Jewelry (尚囍珠寶) was a well-known jewelry store at No. 3, Section 3, Nanjing East Road in Taipei, specializing in creative jewelry design. The business operated on a consignment model: suppliers provided jewelry on credit, and customers left pieces for repair or resale. The store's reputation and location allowed it to accumulate a large volume of high-value inventory on consignment.

From as early as 2019, the owners — married couple Qiu Kuijun and Li Qingling — began pawning consigned jewelry and customer pieces for cash, using new consignments to cover redemptions. The scheme expanded as debts grew. In March 2020, the store suddenly closed without notice. Suppliers and customers discovered that their jewelry had been pawned rather than sold or held. The total value of the fraud reached NT$600 million (approximately US$20 million).

The couple disappeared and allegedly threatened some of the victims who tried to contact them. The Taipei District Prosecutors Office launched an investigation, and after five months on the run, Qiu and Li were arrested in Taichung on August 18, 2020. The following day, the Taipei District Court ordered them held on charges of business embezzlement, citing the large sum involved — over NT$100 million — and the risk of flight and collusion.