Two former top executives at a leading financial holding company were both sentenced to seven years and six months in prison yesterday, after they were found guilty on breach of trust charges and violating the Securities Exchange Act (證券交易法).
Former Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控) chairman Rudy Ma (馬志玲) and his wife, former Yuanta Securities Co (元大證券) chairwoman Judy Tu (杜麗莊), were sentenced by the Taipei District Court in the first ruling after a year-long trial.
The two, along with a number of senior executives from the holding company, were indicted in April last year on suspicion of involvement in irregular trading.
According to prosecutors, the irregularities involved the sale of shares from Yuanta Investment Trust (元大投信) to Yuanta Securities in 2005. The trust bore substantial losses on its interest rate-linked investments after the US Federal Reserve hiked interest rates.
Prosecutors had originally asked for a sentence of 10 years after it was estimated that the companies — which are both subsidiaries of Yuanta Financial Holding — made illegal profits of NT$670 million (US$21 million) from the deal.
Ma, a self-made billionaire, was ranked No. 33 on the Forbes list of Taiwan’s richest people this year. The founder of Yuanta Financial Holding Co which has become the nation’s largest securities company, is estimated to have a net worth of up to US$820 million, down from US$1.1 billion in 2008.
At his peak, Ma reportedly controlled a network of more than 150 offices and 2,400 stock brokers, and was seen as exerting control over as much as 20 percent of the publicly listed stock on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Both Ma and his family reportedly have close ties with the administration of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Ma’s son, former Yuanta Financial Holding president Victor Ma (馬維建), and former Yuanta Securities Corp board member Tu Li-ping (杜麗萍) pled guilty in February to helping the former first family launder money.
Along with the couple, four company officials were also sentenced to prison terms ranging from three years and six months to five years. A fifth official, Tseng Hung-chan (曾鴻展), was found not guilty. The ruling is not final and those sentenced are expected to appeal.
In related news, the Taipei District Court handed down heavy sentences to former Taiwan International Investment Management (金鼎投信) chairman Chang Ping-chao (張平沼) and his wife, Chen Shu-chu (陳淑珠).
The two were also found guilty yesterday in a breach of trust case in connection with flaws in the partial liquidation of the investment company’s structured note investments in 2005 — which led to investors sustaining financial losses of at least NT$200 million (US$6.3 million), prosecutors said.
Chang was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison, while Chen was sentenced to eight years and six months. The pair is also expected to file an appeal.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS