Former Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) vice chairman Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒) was released on NT$100 million (US$3 million) bail late on Monday night.
Koo was escorted to the offices of the Supreme Prosecutors Office’s Special Investigation Panel (SIP) on Monday morning after making a surprise return from Japan, where he had been in hiding since evading an arrest warrant that was issued in 2006 after he failed to answer a subpoena to appear in court over allegations of irregularities involving Chinatrust’s bid for rival Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控).
The questioning began at around 11am and lasted for 12 hours.
PHOTO: YAO KAI-SHIOU, TAIPEI TIMES
Koo was also questioned about allegations that he was involved in alleged money-laundering by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Prosecutors decided not to restrict Koo’s movements or bar him from leaving the country.
“Given that he is not likely to flee nor collude with the other suspects, Mr Koo was released on bail,” SIP spokesman Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南) said.
After leaving the SIP offices at around midnight, Koo did not say anything about the investigations, but issued an apology.
“I would like to apologize to the public and to the shareholders of Chinatrust Financial Holding Co for being away over the past two years,” Koo said.
“I would like to help prosecutors conclude their investigation in order to minimize the impact on Chinatrust Financial Holding Co,” he said.
Confirming that SIP Prosecutor Yueh Fang-ju (越方如) flew to Japan last week, Chen would not confirm whether Yueh was sent to persuade Koo to return to Taiwan.
Chen also denied allegations that Koo had returned to Taiwan after being promised that he would not be detained.
“[Yueh] was in Japan last week, but I cannot tell you anything about the purpose of her trip,” Chen said. “I can assure you that we did not trade any promises in return for Koo’s return.”
After learning that his son had returned, Koo’s father, Chinatrust Financial Holding Co president Jeffrey Koo (辜濂松), returned to Taiwan yesterday morning from Lima, Peru, where he had been attending the APEC summit.
Asked for comment about his son, he only said: “Good for him.”
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
Four former Hong Kong opposition lawmakers jailed in the territory’s largest national security case were released yesterday after more than four years in prison, the first among dozens convicted last year to regain their freedom. Former legislators Claudia Mo (毛孟靜), Jeremy Tam (譚文豪), Kwok Ka-ki (郭家麒) and Gary Fan (范國威) were part of a group of 47 public figures — including some of Hong Kong’s best-known democracy advocates — who were charged with subversion in 2021 for holding an informal primary election. The case fell under a National Security Law imposed on the territory by Beijng, and drew international condemnation and warnings
RSS