Tycoon Wang Yu-yun (
On April 26, Wang, the former president of Chung Shing Commercial Bank (中興銀行), received a seven-year jail sentence on charges of abusing the bank's funds. He was found guilty of mismanaging bad loans valued at more than NT$80 billion (US$2.4 billion).
NOTICES
Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office spokesman Chung Chung-hsiao (鍾忠孝) told reporters yesterday that twice last month the office had issued a notice to Wang ordering him to report to prosecutors and begin his prison sentence, but Wang did not show up.
Chung said prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Wang on Thursday, adding that if police failed to arrest him or if he did not give himself up in the next few days, prosecutors would place Wang on the wanted list.
Chung said Kaohsiung police have interviewed Wang family members and some of his business associates, adding that Wang was not believed to be in Kaohsiung.
Wang, a senior Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and Kaohsiung mayor from 1973 to 1981, was indicted in 2000 and has been prohibited from leaving the country since 2002.
CHINA
Prosecutors suspect Wang may have used a boat to flee to China, Chung said.
A report yesterday in the Chinese-language United Daily News said that Wang may be hiding in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, as he runs businesses there.
Chung said, however, that prosecutors were not privy to such information.
Financial officers said that Wang had transferred most of his assets and properties to China and other countries before facing prosecutors.
The judicial system has come under fire for allowing convicted criminals -- especially white-collar ones -- to roam freely.
Prosecutors argue it is difficult to supervise suspects and convicted criminals who have not been detained, a situation that is compounded by the fact that it is not difficult to flee to China by boat.
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,