Former independent legislator Lo Fu-chu (羅福助) failed to report to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday to begin serving a four-year prison term, the office said, adding that Lo might be placed on the wanted list by last night.
The office said it received a petition from Lo yesterday asking for a reprieve so that he could file an extraordinary appeal and take care of some business matters.
Prosecutors rejected his appeal and issued 22 warrants for his arrest.
Taipei Times file photo
Lo has not been seen in public for nearly a month, despite law enforcement officers’ efforts to track him down.
Prosecutors said they may put him on the wanted list and confiscate his NT$10 million (US$339,000) bond.
The statute of limitations would not run out on Lo’s case until December 2030, when he will be 87, the office said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Local media reports said Lo might have fled the country after Tomb Sweeping Day on April 4 and could be in either China or Australia, where he has many friends and relatives, or in the US. He is also believed to have invested in a hotel in Shanghai.
Lo, a controversial figure, was imprisoned for more than three years in 1984 for ties to the Celestial Way (天道盟) gang and detained in 2002 for four months for suspected fraud and embezzlement.
He began serving in the legislature in 1996 and was re-elected to another term in 1999, during which he became an independent lawmaker.
On March 28, the Supreme Court sentenced him to four years in prison and fined him NT$6 million for stock manipulation, document forgery and money laundering under the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) and the Business Accounting Act (商業會計法).
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
RSS