Far Eastern Group chairman Douglas Hsu (徐旭東) was acquitted yesterday in the Sogo voucher scandal, while former Waterland Financial Holding Co chairman Walter Lin (林華德) was sentenced to two years in prison.
Hsu, Lin, former Pacific Distribution Investment Co chairman Lee Heng-lung (李恆隆) and three officials from Lin and Hsu’s companies were indicted for forgery and breach of trust by Taipei prosecutors in 2006 for their roles in the management takeover of the Pacific Sogo Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨) in September 2002.
Lin was the only defendant found guilty by the Taipei District Court yesterday, while Lee’s case is still pending, along with other criminal cases involving Lee.
Former Sogo chairman Chang Chi-min (章啟明), who filed the lawsuit against Hsu, Lee and Lin, said he did not believe Hsu was innocent and would appeal the verdict to the Taiwan High Court.
“Far Eastern Group injected capital into one of Sogo’s subsidiary companies, Pacific Distribution Investment Co, and then took control of most of Sogo’s shares and obtained ownership of Sogo, which is a legal and normal business practice in the eyes of the law,” the district court ruling said.
The court said, however, that Lin, who agreed to help Chang secure capital for Sogo when it was experiencing financial difficulties, instead secretly helped Hsu gain ownership of the store, which violated breach of trust.
Hsu acquired ownership of Sogo in 2004.
The court also said that while Hsu and other businessmen had visited former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) during the battle for ownership of Sogo, she did not help any party in the battle for control.
Prosecutors believed that Lee had distributed NT$14.82 million [US$447,320] in Pacific Sogo Department Store vouchers, with the first family indirectly receiving NT$277,000 in vouchers.
Prosecutors found no evidence, however, that Wu had received the vouchers in return for helping secure ownership of the department store.
Prosecutors said Wu had received her vouchers from the first family’s former doctor, Huang Fang-yen (黃芳彥).
However, the Special Investigation Panel of the Supreme Prosecutor Office’s is investigating whether Far Eastern deposited US$11.5 million into an overseas account held by former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) family in exchange for help securing ownership of Pacific Sogo.
Hsu said on Wednesday that the company had not bribed the Chen family to gain control of a Chinese subsidiary of Pacific Sogo.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
RSS