David Lo (駱文仁), former vice chairman of E-Ten Information Systems Co (倚天資訊), and Wistron Corp (緯創) chief legal officer Michael Wu (吳重銘) were released on NT$500,000 (US$15,200) bail each early yesterday morning, after being called by Taipei prosecutors for questioning the previous night on allegations of insider trading.
Six others including E-Ten chairman Simon Hwang (黃杉榕) and president Wayne Ma (馬惠群) were released without bail, the Chinese-language udn.com reported yesterday, citing people at the Taipei Prosecutors’ Office.
Acer Inc (宏碁), the world’s third-largest personal computer vendor, yesterday confirmed that Taipei prosecutors searched its wholly-owned E-Ten, one of the nation’s leading handheld device makers, on Friday.
Acer chief financial officer Howard Chan (詹浩) said in a statement yesterday that Acer and E-Ten are not related to the investigation but would cooperate.
He said the investigation would not negatively impact on Acer’s business or financial performance.
He declined to elaborate on the details of the alleged case of insider trading, citing confidentiality amid the ongoing investigation, the statement showed.
FOUNDER FEELS ‘REGRET’
Acer founder Stan Shih (施振榮), meanwhile, told reporters yesterday that he felt regret about the suspected insider trading at E-Ten, the Chinese-language online NOWnews.com reported yesterday.
Shih was approached by reporters for comment on the case while he attended a multimedia show at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1.
On Friday, Taipei prosecutors led by Huang Li-wei (黃立維) searched 10 places, including E-Ten’s office and the residences of key suspects, the Central News Agency reported.
The report said prosecutors were looking for evidence related to alleged insider trading that involves Acer’s announcement on March 3 last year of a plan to take over E-Ten as the PC company aimed to enter the mobile phone business.
Acer said at the time that it planned to acquire E-Ten for NT$9 billion via a share swap and its offer represented a 22.5-percent premium over its closing share price of NT$55.7 that day. Shares of E-Ten were delisted from the local bourse on Sept. 1 of last year.
State-run CNA said Lo and other suspects allegedly bought E-Ten shares at prices of little more than NT$30 per share before Acer’s takeover announcement and in the following days gained tens of millions of dollars in profit by selling up to 600,000 E-Ten shares at more than NT$40 each.
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