Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) and OBI Pharma Inc (台灣浩鼎) chairman Michael Chang (張念慈) were yesterday both listed as defendants by prosecutors in a probe into insider trading allegations, while Ruentex Group (潤泰集團) chairman Samuel Yin (尹衍樑) and Wong’s wife were released after being questioned.
Judicial officials intensified their investigation yesterday, conducting raids on Wong’s office at Academia Sinica, the Wong family’s residences and the offices of Ruentex Group-owned Chung Chia Co (中嘉公司).
The raids were headed up by the Taipei Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office and the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau (MJIB), with investigators seizing documents and other evidence at seven locations across the greater Taipei area.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Wong was first summoned for questioning at the MJIB’s Taipei Division Office yesterday afternoon, then taken to the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office in the evening for further questioning.
Prosecutors also questioned Wong’s wife, Liu Ying-li (劉映理), for 40 minutes before she left the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office accompanied by an assistant.
Prosecutors listed Wong as a defendant in the case and said they are likely to charge him with breach of trust, reportedly based on testimony given by Yin.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
Of the 11 people summoned for questioning yesterday, Michael Chang and OBI Pharma finance division manager Chang Sui-fen (張穗芬) were also listed as defendants on the same charges.
Prosecutors said the raids on Wong’s office and Academia Sinica’s National Center for Genome Medicine were focused on gathering documents, telecommunications records, financial statements, computer databases and other evidence relating to Academia Sinica’s transfer of cancer-fighting medication to OBI Pharma.
The raids at Academia Sinica were contentious, because it was the first time in the nation’s history the judiciary had searched the president’s office at the prestigious institution and some saw the move as tarnishing the nation’s highest academic research body.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Wong returned from US last week, before attending meetings at the Presidential Office and answering questions at the legislature in Taipei in an effort clarify his role and dissociate himself from accusations of insider trading and other financial irregularities.
The breach of trust accusations leveled against Wong showed that prosecutors have opened another investigation into the case, since they were already investigating alleged insider trading.
However, Yin turning state witness and providing testimony against Wong and the other suspects caused controversy, as some political commentators accused Yin and his associates of being the real culprits in behind-the-scenes manipulation of the OBI Pharma share price.
Many people have also claimed the probe is political persecution of Wong, directed by senior government officials to undermine his reputation, and said it would derail the development of the nation’s pharmaceutical industry.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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