On the eve of its first anniversary, the Financial Supervisory Commission should have been celebrating its achievements yesterday but was instead enveloped in an embarrassing and tense atmosphere, as one of its senior officials was grilled over illegal-trading suspicions.
This is the first time that Lee Chin-chen (
Lee, a prosecutor for the Taiwan High Court and an expert on financial crime, has been linked to the snowballing insider-trading scandal regarding Power Quotient International Co (勁永國際).
He assumed the position in January.
His connection to the scandal surfaced when prosecutors investigating the case found a note at Lin Ming-da's (
Lin, an individual investor allegedly in charge of the illegal trading, was released on bail last Thursday after his office and residence were raided on the same day.
Defending his reputation, Lee yesterday said: "I did not write that note. I hope the note can be sent for handwriting authentication as soon as possible."
Lee said he met Lin through a lawmaker's introduction at a restaurant early last year. "We are just friends," Lee said, adding that the last time he talked on the phone with Lin was early this year.
"I have never owned Power Quotient shares, nor have I had any inappropriate transactions," he said.
Kong Jaw-sheng (
"I've talked with Minister of Justice Morley Shih (
Ho Kuan-jen (
Lee has not been indicted for any crime surrounding the Power Quotient scandal, which allegedly involves agents of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, two reporters and individual stock market investors.
Aside from supporting Lee, Kong also laid out plans for the commission's second year at a press conference yesterday.
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