The Changhua District Court yesterday rejected an appeal from prosecutors and upheld its decision to grant bail to former senior Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際集團) executive Wei Ying-chun (魏應充).
The ruling came after the Taiwan High Court ordered the lower court to reconsider its decision on Wednesday last week to allow Wei to be released on NT$100 million (US$3.16 million) bail.
The district court yesterday again granted Wei bail, but increased the amount to NT$300 million.
Photo: Chang Tsung-chiu, Taipei Times
The court also upheld its decision to release three other defendants in the case — former Ting Hsin Oil and Fat Industrial Co (頂新製油實業) general manager Chang Mei-feng (常梅峰), the company’s former acting president Chen Mao-chia (陳茂嘉), and Yang Chen-yi (楊振益), who owns a trading company in Vietnam, Dai Hanh Phuc Co (大幸福公司) — on bail of NT$5 million each.
The four were indicted by prosecutors in Changhua on Oct. 21 last year on multiple fraud charges for allegedly selling cooking oils that contained ingredients not fit for human consumption, such as oils used in animal feeds.
Prosecutors yesterday said they disagree with the district court’s decision to grant bail to Wei, as he and other defendants could collude on testimony and destroy evidence, or might flee abroad.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
An official from the prosecutors’ office said Wei had reported personal assets of more than US$2 billion, and NT$300 million for his new bail represented less than 3 percent of his personal wealth, which meant he had the financial resources to flee abroad to avoid prosecution.
Many netizens also criticized the decision, saying the nation’s judicial system only served the wealthy.
“[Wei] is like a rich kid with lots of money, and now he is very happy to go back to the embrace of his upscale residency at The Palace,” Internet celebrity Lucifer Chu (朱學恆) wrote in a posting.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
Wei’s daily trips to a police station on Xinsheng S Road in Taipei, required under his bail conditions, have drawn protests by consumer rights activists and pro-Taiwan independence groups demanding that he be locked up.
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