Taichung prosecutors yesterday said they will order the arrest and possible extradition from the US of former Legislative Yuan speaker Liu Sung-pan (
"Prosecutors have five times informed him to serve his imprisonment, but Liu did not appear. To follow the Criminal Procedure Code, prosecutors will promulgate an order for his arrest this week," said Chang Hung-mo (
"Because Liu has stayed in the US since his trial, prosecutors might ask US authorities to extradite Liu back to Taiwan," Chang added.
Liu's lawyer Lo Feng-yin (
Liu was found guilty last September of accepting NT$150 million (US$4.7 million) in kickbacks from Tseng Cheng-jen (
Taichung prosecutors have five times informed Liu he must serve his prison time: in September last year, January, March, May, and most recently, on July 15. Five times, Liu has failed to appear. Liu's lawyer has each time sent medical documents to prosecutors claiming that Liu was unable to fly back to Taiwan.
Prosecutors said the medical documents were not authorized by the appropriate US officials.
Liu allegedly used the dirty money to solicit votes for his 1999 campaign for the legislative speakership. During the campaign, investigators say, Liu issued as many as 100 checks, of which some 20 were given to legislators.
Liu, a nine-term legislator, was legislative speaker between 1991 and 1998.
Last fall, the Supreme Court found that Liu helped Chihching Corp (
In November 1998, the bank approved a NT$1.5 billion loan for Chihching without making a proper assessment of the company's creditworthiness.
Following approval of the loan, Chihching paid Tseng a huge commission, and Tseng gave Liu NT$150 million in kickbacks, the court found.
The Supreme Court sentenced Tseng to 11 years in prison for financial irregularities totaling roughly NT$20 billion.
Liu told the court that he had only borrowed the NT$150 million from Tseng, and that he just hasn't returned it yet.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique