TAIPEI - A Taiwanese man has been detained after he allegedly persuaded hundreds to pay into a bogus fund by posing as a member of the Brunei royal family, Taipei-based media said Thursday.

Wei Yao-sheng, 36, allegedly claimed he was authorised by a Brunei bank to set up a royal investment fund in Taiwan, attracting 300 million Taiwan dollars (S$13.11 million) from his victims, the China Times reported.

Wei was already wanted after he evaded an eight-month sentence for fraud and blackmail dating back to 2007, the report said.

He first achieved notoriety in 2001 as the author of the best-selling book "Making 100 Million at Age 18", allegedly based on his own experiences as a teenage entrepreneur, according to the paper.

The book was soon exposed as mostly fiction and was removed from the shelves, it said.