The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division (SID) told former Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) vice chairman Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒) in Japan that he would not be detained if he made a legal statement against former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) family, Koo Jr’s attorney said yesterday.
As such, Koo’s statement should not be used as evidence in court, Koo Jr’s attorney Fang Po-hsun (方伯勳) told a court hearing yesterday.
He also requested that the court summon Fu Zu-sheng (傅祖聲), the lawyer of the late Chinatrust Financial Holding Co founder and chairman Jeffery Koo Sr (辜濂松), and JPMorgan Chase Bank in Taiwan senior country officer Carl Chien (錢國維) to testify.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
When asked for comment later yesterday, the SID said that no such “give and take” exists and the remarks were tactics by Koo Jr’s attorney.
According to Fang, SID prosecutors went to Japan to urge Koo Jr to return to Taiwan to face trial and “enticed” him by saying that if he returned to Taiwan to make a statement against the Chen family, he would not be detained and could be allowed to visit his children abroad.
As a result, Koo Jr said the proceeds from his company’s purchase of a stake in Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) were to pay the Chen family, but such remarks were the result of prosecutors’ enticement and not from his own free will, and as such could not be used in court, Fang said.
Koo Jr was sentenced to nine years in jail by the Taipei District Court for his company’s illegal purchase of a stake in Mega Financial Holding Co.
He fled the country in November 2006 during prosecutors’ investigations, staying in Japan, among other places.
He returned to Taiwan in December 2008 to stand trial.
The Taipei District Court ruled that he had violated the Securities Exchange Act (證券交易法) and the Banking Act (銀行法).
The district court said Koo Jr and several company executives had used NT$27.5 billion (US$920 million) to buy a 9.9 percent stake in Mega Financial through a Hong Kong branch of Chinatrust in 2004, without the approval of the Chinatrust board.
That included the illegal purchase of US$390 million in loan notes, convertible into Mega Financial shares, using money earmarked for deposits and then locking in profits from the transaction through insider trading, the court said.
The case is pending in the Taiwan High Court.
Additional reporting by staff writer
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia