Shares of local manufacturers of power adapters and transformers plunged yesterday after Xepex Electronics Co (銳普科技) defaulted on payments to suppliers on Monday amid an alleged embezzlement scandal.
Shares of Xepex, which are banned from trading on margin beginning today, dropped by the 7 percent limit to close at NT$12.1 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE).
Affected by Xepex, Phihong Technology Co (飛宏科技) and Solytech Enterprise Corp (首利實業) also closed limit-down at NT$13.15 and NT$40.2 respectively.
TSE officials began investigating the company on July 21, and found it had inflated financial figures. The firm last Friday restated its revenue figure for the January-June period, slashing it to NT$828 million from a previously reported NT$1.249 billion. Xepex's defaults totaled NT$57.47 million (US$1.8 million) as of Monday.
The investigation was filed by Chan Tsai-hung (
Chan Ting-pang joined Xepex in April as the representative of the Tai Yang Group (泰陽集團), which later became Xepex's largest shareholder. The dubious revenue figures were found to have occurred in Xepex's optoelectronics department, which Chan Ting-pang heads.
At a press conference at the TSE on Monday, Chan Ting-pang said that although he was the director of the department, its operation was handled by staff from the Tai Yang Group. The group paid NT$318 million to suspicious overseas material suppliers, thus causing a funding shortage at Xepex, he said.
The company has stopped paying the suppliers, and plans to retrieve the money, he added.
Chan Tsai-hung yesterday held a press conference to defend her brother, saying he was merely a scapegoat, but that the case should be handled in accordance with the law.
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