A well-known public figure wanted for tax evasion yesterday eluded arrest by law enforcement officers bearing an arrest warrant issued by the Shihlin District Court.
The whereabouts of Huang Jen-chung (黃任中), son of former president of the Judicial Yuan Huang Shao-ku (黃少谷) and known in particular for his success in speculating on the stock market, remained unknown at press time last night.
Executive Officer Chung Chi-cheng (鍾志正) of the Ministry of Justice's Taipei Administrative Enforcement Department told reporters at a press conference at noon yesterday, "We've been searching for him at places at which we know he might show up, but have turned up nothing."
He said the search for Huang had begun immediately after the arrest warrant was issued late on Wednesday night.
Chung led a team of officers in the search for Huang. They confiscated a number of bottles of wine and boxes of Korean ginseng from one of his Taipei residences.
He told reporters that the ministry had assigned additional executive officers to the search for Huang since failing to arrest him.
Chung said that Huang was refusing to pay NT$1.4 billion in outstanding taxes, had refused to explain his current financial status and lied to the department, saying that he was broke.
"We have given Huang a month to clear his debts. However, he did nothing. In addition, our investigation showed that he is able to pay them off but he said he couldn't. It seemed to us that he simply did not want to pay the taxes that he owes so we had to force him to pay by arresting him and putting him behind bars," Chung said.
"The arrest warrant will be valid day and night until Feb. 27 next year. We will arrest Huang whenever he shows up," he said.
The ministry said that once Huang has been arrested, he will be jailed until he clears the amount he owes, in accordance with a Nov. 15 ruling of the Taiwan Administrative Court which gave Huang one month to pay his tax arrears.
Speaking on behalf of the ministry, Chung also said that information concerning Huang's whereabouts was welcome at 02-8866-6566, ext. 310.
On Nov. 7 ministry personnel visited one of Huang's residences in Taipei City in an attempt to collect some NT$1.4 billion in outstanding taxes, including interest, owed by Huang.
Ministry personnel first confiscated property belonging to Huang on Nov. 7, including some antiques, Chinese paintings and calligraphy, on government orders after he failed to present a proposal on how he would pay the arrears.
Huang had earlier publicly refused to pay the amount, saying that "tax evasion is every citizen's obligation."
According to the National Tax Administration, Huang's outstanding taxes date from 1995 when he netted some NT$5 billion in 1995 after selling off stakes owned by his company -- the Huang Lung Investment Co (皇龍投資) -- in Far East Air Transport Corp (遠東航空).
Huang filed a case with the administrative court, claiming that the tax administration had overstated his profits and therefore overcharged him for tax. However, the court ruled against him in early November, and the tax administration has been trying to obtain the arrears from him since.
Although the National Tax Administration discovered that Huang's assets had considerably diminished and he had only NT$1 million in his bank account, Ministry of Justice personnel suspect that Huang has transferred most of his money and properties to friends and family.
Huang and his family earlier denied these allegations and insisted that Huang is "not as rich as he used to be."
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