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 (
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