Shares of Farglory Land Development Co (遠雄建設), a real-estate unit of Farglory Group (遠雄集團), plunged 6.7 percent in Taipei trading yesterday after Farglory Group founder Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄) was detained by prosecutors over allegations of bribery and embezzlement.
Chao, Farglory Land Development chairman Frank Chao (趙文嘉) and Farglory Life Insurance Co (遠雄人壽) president George Chao (趙信清) on Thursday were summoned by prosecutors over questionable construction projects by Farglory Land Development and Farglory Life Insurance in 2007.
Farglory Group spokesman Jacky Yang (楊舜欽) said Frank Chao and George Chao were released on bail yesterday morning and returned to work, adding that the operations and finances of Farglory Land Development and Farglory Life Insurance are not affected by the ongoing investigation.
Farglory Land Development’s stock price closed at NT$39 with a total of 5.55 million shares changing hands during the session. The closing price was below the company’s quarterly average of NT$41.26 and monthly average of NT$42.22, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
Shares of Farglory Life Insurance, listed on the Emerging Stock Market plummeted 25.14 percent to close at NT$6.4, the lowest since its debut on the board on April 16, 2015.
Farglory Life Insurance, established in December 1993 with paid-in capital of NT$12.42 billion (US$408.07 million), said in a statement that its finances, operations and the interests of insured people are not affected by the investigation.
The life insurer, which posted revenue of NT$72.7 billion last year, said the ratios for its risk-based capital (RBC) in the past three years all ranked ahead of local peers.
“The company’s RBC was above 300 percent as of the end of May, which exceeded the government’s requirement of 200 percent,” the statement said.
The Financial Supervisory Commission said in a statement that it has requested Farglory Life Insurance to explain its role in the alleged bribery and embezzlement case.
If the insurer is found to have been involved in any illegal activity, thereby increasing risks to its finances, it could fine the firm between NT$900,000 and NT$4.5 million, the commission’s Insurance Bureau said.
The bureau said the worst-case scenario was that it could impose other disciplinary measures on the insurer, including relieving the representative position of the company or revoking its operating license.
Farglory Land Development on Thursday said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that its operations remained unaffected.
It did not respond to inquiries yesterday about the investigation.
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