■ Fraud
`Shadow fixer' faints in court
A Japanese court yesterday handed six more years in prison to Ho Yong-chung, the culprit of one of the most notorious fraud cases during the "bubble economy," who collapsed on hearing the latest verdict. Ho, a 58-year-old Korean-Japanese, is already serving a separate seven-and-a-half-year term, was convicted of swindling promissory notes worth ¥17.9 billion (US$152 million) out of Tokyo-based trading firm Ishibashi Sangyo in 1996. Listening to the ruling, Ho drank water repeatedly and wiped sweat off his forehead before passing out on the defendant's seat, Jiji Press said. Ho also collapsed during a lower court hearing, the news agency said. Ho, nicknamed the "shadow fixer," is best known for the Itoman case from the early 1990s. He allegedly manipulated the management of the trading firm Itoman in the early 1990s to make it invest hundreds of billions of yen into trading art and developing golf courses. The Supreme Court sentenced him to seven years and six months in prison and a ¥500 million fine last October. In yesterday's ruling, presiding Judge Kenjiro Tao sentenced Ho to a further six years in prison, saying it was clear Ho "swindled the corporate bills."
■ Electronics
Toshiba profits shoot up
Japanese electronics giant Toshiba said yesterday its net profits had grown more than 13 times year-on-year in the third quarter to December as all segments of its business sharply improved. Net profit shot up to ¥21.9 billion (US$186.5 million) in the quarter from ¥1.6 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year. Operating profit soared to ¥63.7 billion from ¥900 million previously. "Toshiba group's businesses in the 2005 fiscal year to date are moving more strongly than originally anticipated on robust performances in electronic devices, particularly memories in the semiconductor business, and in social infrastructure, including the medical systems business," a statement said. The results followed an upbeat earnings report by rival Sony, which said last week it no longer anticipated losses for the year.
■ Photography
Fuji Photo to cut 5,000 jobs
Japan's Fuji Photo Film yesterday announced it will slash 5,000 jobs worldwide as part of structural reforms to keep profitable in the competitive business. The world's No. 2 photographic film maker will cut 1,000 jobs in Japan with the remaining 4,000 abroad by September, a company spokesman said. Fuji Film said the move was part of a reform plan to stay afloat. "The structural reforms include the reduction of approximately 5,000 people from the imaging solutions segment," which includes film production, a company statement said.
■ Telecoms
NTT DoCoMo profits drop
Japan's top mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo said yesterday its profits fell in the nine months to December in part due to falling handset sales. Net profit for the period slipped 31.7 percent to ¥516.4 billion (US$4.4 billion) year-on-year. Pretax profit eased 35.1 percent to ¥811.2 billion, on sales of ¥3.58 trillion, down 1.7 percent. The company said its revenue from mobile handset sales fell 13.6 percent year-on-year to ¥353.2 billion. The latest pretax profit fell because of larger gains seen a year ago, it added. Pretax profit also fell as NTT DoCoMo had gained more last year on selling shares of AT&T Wireless Service than its gains in the current period on sales of shares of Hutchison 3G UN Holdings and KPN Mobile NV.
■ Agriculture
More farms shut over dioxin
Belgian, Dutch and German authorities have closed almost 400 farms after traces of a carcinogenic chemical were found in animal feed, the European Commission said on Monday. EU spokesman Philip Tod said that tests were under way to check if the dioxins had made their way into the human food chain. The Belgian food safety agency said tainted hydrochloric acid used in the production of animal feed had caused the dioxin contamination. The fat is mixed with other feed for the livestock industry. The commission said Belgium and the Netherlands had acted quickly to shut down farms and determine where the contamination came from. Seven German farms had also been closed, it said. The Belgian food safety agency closed 300 more farms on Monday to add to the 96 pig and chicken farms it shut down last Friday.
■ Taxation
Tax forms confuse Britons
Some 3.8 million people in the UK are paying either too much tax or too little because they have trouble with the country's tax system, according to a study published on Monday. The Daily Telegraph newspaper said that the study revealed that taxpayers were confused about how to fill in complex forms in a system implemented by Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. The study, compiled by financial experts for the Bow Group, a center-right think tank, also revealed that £9.6 billion (US$16.9 billion) owed in tax remained outstanding last April. Some 40 percent of it has been outstanding for more than 12 months, the report said.
■ Software
Gates unveils Turkey deal
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates on Monday announced details of a joint project to produce a Turkish-language version of Windows XP Starter Edition, an inexpensive, stripped-down version of the standard operating software aimed at schoolchildren. Speaking to journalists in Istanbul, Gates said that Microsoft would work with Turk Telecom and memory chip maker Intel to produce cheap computers under a program called "My First PC." Gates said the version would have safeguards to stop children from reaching "inappropriate sites." He did not detail the computers' retail price or say when they would be available.
■ Fraud
Shinwha settles US lawsuit
A South Korean company has agreed to pay US$1.2 million to resolve a lawsuit alleging that it falsified inspection records for fire alarms and safety equipment at US military installations throughout South Korea, officials said. Shinwha Electronics Inc of Seoul did not admit that any of the allegations were true under the terms of the settlement with the US government. As part of the settlement reached on Jan. 12, the company dismissed a US$407,564 claim against the US for nonpayment of a contract, US Attorney Edward Kubo Jr. said on Monday. The case was originally filed by a former Shinwha employee under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, according to Kubo, who said the unidentified former employee will receive US$240,000 of the settlement. The lawsuit accused Shinwha of not having trained fire-safety inspectors involved in carrying out the contract and falsifying that work was done on all US Army and Air Force bases in South Korea.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI