Stolen money and documents

Hello everyone! I am a Ukrainian citizen who went to Taiwan in 2022 and lived there with my girlfriend who is a local citizen. This year, I returned to Europe and invited my girlfriend to move from Taiwan to Europe. But she broke up with me. Unfortunately, my belongings including documents and all my savings at her home nowadays. She doesn’t reply to my calls, messages, and letters. It looks like she does not to take back my values. Due to the war in my homeland, I don’t have any money. Moreover, due to the consequences of the war, my grandmother needs money for surgery, She can die without my financial support. Maybe somebody will provide some advice in this terrible situation.

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GoFundMe dot com

But seriously, why did you return to Europe/Ukraine without any of your savings?
You did not put into bank account?
What documents? Obviously, not passport, right?
You are your grandma’s only living relative?

You need to call a lawyer and press charges.

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I returned to Europe/Ukraine with a small amount of my savings due to the consequences of the war, which always increases criminal activity. The bank system in my homeland doesn’t work well due to the war. Sometimes, it even blocks the user’s account and it will take a while to deblock this. Some documents are important like birthday certificate, diplomas, and medical card. Unfortunately, I am only one relative who is alive.

Do know any local pro-bono lawyer’s?

9 posts were split to a new topic: Not legal / not useful / misleading from stolen stuff

Do you have concrete evidence that your ex has your belongings?

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Also as he left them behind it may be difficult to say they were stolen.

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Everyone, and especially @Taiwan_Luthiers : this is the legal forum. Please stick to legal topics, and also please consider what’s helpful for the OP. No speculations or technicalities, please.

Example what’s not useful: telling the OP that technically they don’t need a lawyer to press charges, or can even do it online. That might be technically possible, however without knowing mandarin (presumably) it will surely not be a very practicable way.

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Personally I don’t see what this has to do with theft. It looks like a civil property dispute between people previously in a relationship. A lawyer is likely the only option; I don’t see how police would be any help.

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It’s even less than than that imo - he’s wanting a favor from an ex to send his stuff to him after he left the country without his stuff. but she’s ghosting him.

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Okay, let’s say he arranges for someone in Taiwan to collect his stuff on his behalf but she blocks him and this someone from accessing his stuff. That would amount to theft, right?

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No. These people lived together for a year. They shared property in a relationship. How do we know that she does not have a right to any of those things? And why on earth would she let someone else into her house for those things? It amounts to “he said vs she said” in relation to whose property it actually is (especially money!). Even with personal documents (which he definitely has a right to, and she does not), the person themself would need to be there to collect them, or someone appointed by a court or lawyer on his behalf. In most of these civil property cases, a court needs to get involved if the split was not amenable.

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Think on this.

Here is a translation of the criminal definition of theft for Taiwan (in English):

A person who for purpose to exercise unlawful control over other’s property for himself or for a third person unlawfully takes movable property of another commits larceny

How do we determine who has lawful control over property shared in a relationship? These people apparently shared an apartment for a year? Each person likely has specific beliefs over what is rightfully theirs. Often these beliefs clash with the other person in the relationship. Therein lies the need for a court to decide.

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The money, ok. But things like his birth certificate, diplomas, medical card? They would all be in his name, she has no right to block the return of those things.

The documents with his name on them are indisputably his property or the property of the issuing authority. Not his girlfriend or Taiwan’s property.

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As I said above:

And even if she is in possession of his personal documents, how does someone prove she has them? Also, how does someone go about getting into her place to prove that she has them without a court representative or someone legally appointed to do so (not just someone he told to get his stuff from her), or ultimately a warrant. It is very likely him just saying that they are there would not be enough to gain entry.

And, with her completely ghosting him, she has plausible deniability in relation to something criminal, unless someone has records of her text messages saying otherwise. She very much could say that she wasn’t contacted and doesn’t know what he is talking about.

It is likely criminal if she knows he contacted her, she has the documents, and is unwilling to give them back - but, how do you prove that?

The whole thing is very difficult, and likely needs to get the courts involved, imo. Personally, I would likely write it off, and just get stuff cancelled and reissued.

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As far as we know she may have blocked him and therefore has no idea he is attempting to contact her.

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There’s nothing in og post suggesting she’s blocking anything. I can’t imagine she has any obligation to take her time and money to send anything to someone who moved out of the country.

And when he moved out of the country without taking them, what obligation should she be under to take care of his business for him?

Maybe next time he’ll treat them as such. :idunno:

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She might have blocked you. Do you have a mutual friend through whom you can communicate?

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