Taipei Chief Prosecutor Lin Jinn-tsun (
"There will be a second indictment of suspects, including the China Development Financial Holding Corp Chairman Liu Tai-ying (
Those indicted are Zanadau Development Corp majority shareholder Su Hui-chen (
PHOTO: HUNG CHENG-HUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The seven suspects whose charges will be suspended for two years, are Kaohsiung Fifth Credit Cooperative Credit Investigative Section Chief Hung Chen-hsiung (
All seven have been charged with breach of trust. If they do not break the law within the next two years, however, the charges against them will be automatically dropped.
"The seven suspects' charges were suspended because prosecutors believe they simply accepted orders rather than deliberately committed a crime by receiving bribes of their own volition," Chen Hung-ta said.
Su was charged with violations of the Securities Exchange Law (
Lee Ming-che was charged with corruption, forgery and breach of trust. Prosecutors demanded a 12-year sentence for him, alleging he was the broker behind the scandal.
Hsieh was charged with corruption and faces a possible 14-year sentence for allegedly using Taiwan Fertilizer's money to buy Zanadau stocks and receiving bribes from Su.
Yu Chen was charged with violation of the Securities Exchange Law and breach of trust for allegedly manipulating Zanadau's stocks as the company's president in 1998.
Yu Chen's resignation as a senior adviser to the president was immediately approved by President Chen Shui-bian (
Wong was charged with corruption and faces a possible nine-year sentence for allegedly receiving NT$25 million via Hsieh, as a bribe from Su.
Lin was charged with corruption with a recommended seven-year sentence for helping Su to receive a license for the construction of Zanadau's 11.66 hectare Tahu Commercial Zone (大湖工商綜合區) in Kaohsiung County, when the company did not meet eligibility criteria for such a license.
Lee Ming-se was charged with breach of trust with a suggested four-year sentence. Charges against the rest of the bank's employees were suspended.
They all allegedly helped Su gain financing from the bank, although Su had a poor credit history and was not qualified for the mortgage.
Chinese-language media have reported that prosecutors hurried to wrap up the first indictment yesterday because their deadline for indicting or relasing two of the major suspects -- Hsieh and Lee Ming-che -- falls tomorrow.
Hsieh and Lee have been detained since Oct. 17 last year. Under the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法), a detention request is valid for two months if approved by judges connected to the case.
Prosecutors may request another two months, making the total length of the detention four months, if necessary.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,