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.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
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