The chairman of one of Taiwan’s largest banks, Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控), was released early yesterday after being questioned by the Supreme Prosecutors Office for suspected involvement in the alleged corruption scandal of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Thomas Wu (吳東亮), chairman of Taishin, was suspected of paying a substantial sum of money as bribery to former president Chen’s wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), as the private bank was planning to invest in the state-owned Chang Hwa Bank (彰化銀行) when the government was implementing a second phase of financial reforms and encouraging mergers of monetary institutions.
Wu was called in for questioning by the Special Investigative Division of the prosecutors’ office after dozens of investigators made surprise raids at Taishin bank’s headquarters and Wu’s residence in Taipei on Friday afternoon upon the closing of the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Four others suspected of involvement in the case were taken to the prosecutor’ office for questioning.
Shares of Taishin Financial slid 6.99 percent to NT$10.65 (US$0.33) yesterday, the lowest since May 19.
Local media have reported that in the former first lady’s statement to the Special Investigative Division last February, Wu Shu-jen claimed that the hundreds of millions she had deposited at the safe of Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) since 2006 were contributed by 20 executives of Taiwanese banks, high-tech firms and media organizations, among which NT$100 million was paid by Thomas Wu.
Taishin holds a 22.5 percent stake in Chang Hwa Bank and is its largest shareholder.
Taishin has been targeted by investigators since the bank was mentioned in the Cabinet’s “second-phase monetary reform review report” released last February.
The report indicated that when Taishin was in the process of acquiring special shares of Chang Hwa Bank, its debt ratio was relatively high.
Some financial specialists also said it did not make sense for Chang Hwa to be merged with Taishin because Chang Hwa was in good financial health at the time of the proposed merger, whereas Taishin was not, meaning that Taishin was in no position to buy the state-owned financial institution.
Before Friday’s questioning, the Taishin chairman had twice been summoned by the investigators as a witness in the money laundering and bribery cases involving the former first family.
He has claimed that Taishin was helping the government settle problems when it acquired shares of Chang Hwa, and had abided by legal procedures.
Thomas Wu had also denied involvement in the money laundering or bribery case.
In a similar case, the Special Investigative Division in December indicted executives of Cathay United Bank and Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控), which were accused of bribing the former first lady in order to “smooth” government requirements to merge with Fuhwa Financial Holding Co (復華金控).
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
RSS