Taipei prosecutors questioned Minister of Finance Joseph Lyu (
The director-general of the National Treasury Agency under the Ministry of Finance, Liu Teng-cheng (
"Prosecutors wanted to learn about the process by which a syndicated loan was granted to Taiwan Development Corp (TDC), as well as the assignment of Su Teh-jien (蘇德建) as TDC chairman," Taipei District Prosecutors' Office spokesman Lin Pang-liang (
Last August Lyu, who was then the chairman of the state-owned Bank of Taiwan, organized a syndicated loan totaling NT$16.5 billion (US$515.1 million) for TDC from 29 banks.
That loan is at the center of the investigation into alleged insider trading involving President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) son-in-law, Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘). Prosecutors suspect that Chao learned insider information about the loan, and then purchased TDC shares through an account held by his mother in order to profit when TDC's share price soared after the loan was publicly announced.
Key meeting
Lyu held a board meeting of Bank of Taiwan last June, during which the decision was made to organize the loan for TDC.
In July, TDC chairman Su, Chang Hwa Commercial Bank chairman Chang Po-shin (張伯欣) and bank president Chen Chen-chao (陳辰昭) dined with Chao, Waterland Securities Co director Tsai Chin-wen (蔡清文) and businessman Yu Shih-yi (游世一) at a Japanese restaurant in Taipei. Prosecutors suspect that at the dinner, Su Teh-jien informed the others about the loan to TDC.
Tidy profits
After the dinner, Chao's mother, Tsai and Yu bought a large amount of TDC shares that had been released by Chang Hwa bank. When the loan was publicly announced, TDC shares skyrocketed from around NT$2 to NT$18 within a year, allowing Chao's mother and the other two to make substantial profits. Chao has denied any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors doubt the legitimacy of the syndicated loan, since TDC had NT$3 billion (US$94 million) in capital. They also suspect that the terms of the loan were flawed and that it should never have been approved.
Su Teh-jien (
Clear conscience
After leaving the prosecutors' office yesterday, Lyu insisted that he had a clear conscience about the alleged connection between his chairmanship at the Bank of Taiwan last year and the insider trading scandal. All TDC matters he was involved in were legal and reasonable, he added.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (
Prosecutors yesterday afternoon also summoned Chao and Tsai from prison to try to learn where huge deposits made into the bank accounts of the Chao family came from.
Investigators suspect that Chao, an osteopath at National Taiwan University Hospital, may have accepted bribes from drug firms after discovering three suspicious deposits of NT$9 million (US$280,000) each in his father's bank account.
Investigators believe one or more medical suppliers may have tried to buy Chao's influence at the hospital in order to boost their sales.
The hospital on Thursday stripped Chao of his professional duties after he was detained.
Above board
Meanwhile, Yieh Phui, the company that had hired Chao Chien-ming's father to serve as a consultant insisted yesterday that his employment was completely legal.
Allegations that Chao Yu-chu (
The company, which is one of the nation's leading steel coil producers, employed the senior Chao as a consultant from May 1, 2003 to April 30 this year with a monthly salary of NT$100,000 (US$3,120), not including benefits.
According to Yieh Phui, that arrangement was typical in the industry, where companies often hire individuals with good political and commercial connections or who had served as government officials to work for them as advisors as part of their efforts to avoid "unfair treatment by others."
To avoid any further controversy, Yieh Phui chairman Lin I-sou (林義守) said he had decided to reimburse the company for Chao's salary. He said that Chao was no longer on the company's payroll.
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