Former executive vice president of the China Development Holding Corp (CDHC) Shih Jer-shyong (施哲雄) yesterday admitted to committing crimes under the direction of CDHC former chairman Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英).
Shih is one of nine defendants charged with aiding and abetting Liu who is himself charged or facing charges in 12 separate corporate corruption scandals.
At a court hearing yesterday, Shih confessed to the crimes with which he had been charged.
These include violating the Business Accounting Law (商業會計法), document forgery and breach of trust for helping Liu illegally buy stocks from the company's minority shareholders.
Many people in the courtroom appeared shocked by Shih's admission, especially Liu.
"I hereby affirm what was described in the indictment and confess the crimes," Shih said at the hearing.
"What I did was nothing but following Liu's orders. In addition, I am quite sure that China Development Industrial Bank chairman Benny Hu (胡定吾) must know everything since he was my supervisor and also worked closely with Liu, although he kept denying everything," Shih said.
Hu has been summoned by prosecutors during their investigations but so far they have not possessed enough evidence to charge him.
Hu said that he would not comment on Shih's allegations before he talked to his lawyers. Liu, however, continued to deny the charges against him at the hearing.
Among the 10 defendants, former Kuo-hung International Development Corp president Su Chih-jen (蘇志仁), the younger brother of Su Chih-cheng (蘇志誠), who used to be a close aide to the former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), was the only one absent for the hearing yesterday.
Yesterday's hearing was the first after prosecutors indicted the 10 defendants on June 6. Prosecutors are seeking a 16-year sentence for Liu on charges of theft, corruption, breach of trust, document forgery and violating the Securities Transaction Law (證券交易法), the Corporation Law (公司法), the Money Laundering Control Law (洗錢防制法) and Business Accounting Law.
Initially, Liu was investigated for his involvement in the Zanadau Development Corp scandal, in which he was accused of accepting a NT$1.06 billion kickback from Su Hui-chen (
However, in addition to the Zanadau case, prosecutors discovered that he was also involved in another 11 cases and indicted another nine defendants who allegedly helped him.
Former KMT Investment and Business Management Committee secretary-general Darby Liu (劉大貝) was charged with theft and breach of trust for helping Liu use KMT assets to invest in Taiwan Pineapple stocks.
Former China Green Fiber Corp general-manager Cheng Tsung-cheng (鄭淙王爭) was charged with document forgery in the Taiwan Pineapple case.
Su Chih-jen was charged along with former KMT lawmaker Lin Ming-yi (林明義) with breach of trust.
They allegedly helped Liu get construction licenses for a cemetery project in which he had invested KMT assets.
Chen Kun-yung (陳崑永), another former China Development Holding Corp executive vice president, and former Wei-cheng Group president Hsieh Wen-chin (
Former China Development Holding Corp business manager Chen Jui-hsun (陳瑞勳) was charged with breach of trust, document forgery, violations of the Corporation Law and Business Accounting Law for his role in the gas station project.
Former Chiaotoubao Corp president Yang Ching-lan (楊青嵐) was charged with breach of trust, document forgery and violation of the Corporation Law for helping Liu invest KMT assets in food processing factories which were never built.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding