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Gary Wang freed on near-record bail

The Taipei District Court yesterday granted bail of NT$100 million (US$3 million) to the chairman of Eastern Multimedia Group (EMG), Gary Wang (王令麟), the second-highest figure in the country's judicial history.

Wang left the court yesterday afternoon after his company had spent nine hours collecting the bail money.

Taipei prosecutors had applied to the Taipei District Court to detain Wang on Friday night. After a hearing the court decided this was unnecessary and released him on bail, Wang's lawyer Chi Jeen-nan (紀鎮南) told reporters after the hearing yesterday morning.

Wang was prohibited from leaving the country.

He told the court that if he remained in detention, there would effectively be nobody in charge of his company leaving more than 7,000 staff facing a potential crisis.

Prosecutors said they would lodge an appeal with the Taiwan High Court, asking it to order the district court to reverse the bail decision.

Wang's release would influence the ongoing investigation, prosecutors said, but did not elaborate.

Prosecutors began questioning Wang and other company officials on Thursday after a series of raids on EMG offices and properties belonging to him.

Wang and his associates are being questioned in connection with four separate cases.

The first concerns allegations that he illegally sold the group's stock at an abnormally low price.

The second alleges he stole NT$27.2 billion from Asia Pacific Broadband Telecom Co (亞太固網), a local fixed-line operator and a subsidiary of Eastern Multimedia Group.

In the third case, prosecutors allege that Wang tried to avoid paying taxes by selling one of the group's properties to Union Insurance Co (友聯產險) and subsequently renting out the property.

Prosecutors also suspect that he may have bribed Taipei City Government officials to win the contract to operate the Taipei Arena for nine years.

Wang said later yesterday that he was grateful for the court's impartial decision regarding his bail.

In a brief statement issued immeditately after he was released, Wang said he had offered detailed information and cooperated with the prosecutors' investigation.

He said he hoped to answer the allegations against him soon.

Wang is the son of Wang You-theng (王又曾), the fugitive Rebar Asia Pacific Group (力霸集團) founder who has been indicted together with 106 others for their alleged involvement in one of the country's biggest financial scandals.

The highest-ever bail granted was on Aug. 29, 2005, when a Taipei District Court judge granted NT$150 million bail to Hu Hung-jeou (胡洪九), the former chief financial officer of Pacific Electric Wire and Cable Co (太平洋電線電纜) in a corporate fund embezzlement case.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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