Waterland Securities Co board director Tsai Chin-wen (蔡清文), a key figure in the Taiwan Development Corp (TDC) scandal, was released yesterday after cooperating with investigators.
Tsai, who was detained for more than two weeks, has admitted his guilt and will be a witness for the prosecution. Prosecutors said statements made by Tsai were damaging to Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘), the president's son-in-law.
Meanwhile, former minister of finance Lin Chuan (
Lin was later released.
The questioning was part of a probe into a snowballing insider trading scandal involving Chao.
"We summoned Lin to lbetter understand the process by which a syndicated loan was granted to TDC, as well as the appointment of Su Teh-jien (蘇德建) as TDC chairman," Taipei District Prosecutors' Office spokesman Lin Pang-liang(林邦樑) said yesterday.
Last August, the state-owned Bank of Taiwan organized a syndicated loan totaling NT$16.5 billion (US$515.1 million) for TDC. The deal, which involved 29 banks, was overseen by the Ministry of Finance.
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 agreement were flawed and that it should never have been approved.
The loan is at the center of the investigation into alleged insider trading involving Chao. Prosecutors suspect that Chao gained inside information about the loan, and then purchased TDC shares through an account held by his mother. Chao then profited when TDC's share price soared after the loan was made public.
Su, a former official of the Bank of Taiwan, was appointed TDC chairman on June 1 last year. Prosecutors suspect that bribery may have been involved in Su's appointment, which was approved by the ministry.
Lin has told reporters that the appointment of Su was not his decision, suggesting that other high-ranking officials may have been involved.
Meanwhile, former Taoyuan General Hospital chief Ho Fong-ming (
Ho was found to have deposited NT$500,000 into the bank account of Chao Chien-hsun (
Prosecutors suspect that the money was a bribe Ho had paid to help him earn his position.
Ho's resignation was approved by the Department of Health on Thursday.
Chen Huei-yu (
Prosecutors suspect that Chao may have laundered his profits through Chen Huei-yu's bank accounts. The questioning was still proceeding at press time.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
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‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)