The Ministry of Justice “abetted the escape” of Tseng Chao-jung (曾昭榮), who was indicted for allegedly scamming NT$12.2 billion (US$377.4 million at current exchange rates) from investors, by setting his bail at NT$1 million, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Karen Yu (余宛如) said yesterday.
Yu, accompanied at a news conference in Taipei by a dozen investors who said they had been defrauded by Tseng’s “cabal of con artists,” characterized the ministry’s handling of the case as a “dereliction of duty” and accused the government of leaving the victims “high and dry.”
From 2011 to 2014, Tseng and his cohorts allegedly sold through his corporations Tebao Co (德寶公司) and Shuanying Co (雙盈公司) what he claimed were unlisted shares of Eslite Spectrum Corp (誠品生活) and Taiwan Taxi Co (台灣大車隊) to more than 3,000 people for a total of NT$12.2 billion, Yu said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Yu said that the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office wrongfully acquiesced to Tseng’s request for bail on Feb. 24, 2014, allowing him to flee and leaving no assets behind with which to compensate victims.
The ministry’s failure to keep Tseng in custody and freeze his assets was a dereliction of duty that aided in his escape, Yu said, adding that it was suspicious that prosecutors chose to charge Tseng and his accomplices with violations of the Banking Act (銀行法) rather than with fraud under the Criminal Code.
Tseng’s shell companies never used investors’ funds to buy shares, which Yu said was “plainly indicative of a malicious intent to commit fraud.”
Yu cited unnamed sources who said prosecutors indicted Tseng under the Banking Act because they were “too lazy” to make a case for fraud charges, which would have required them to interview thousands of investors and audit his finances.
Wang Yun-chun (王允中), of the Financial Supervisory Commission’s Banking Bureau, said that Tseng’s alleged offenses constituted violations of the Banking Act, which were serious crimes.
Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang (陳明堂) said the ministry had no say on whether bail is allowed in a case, as that is a decision made by judges.
At the time charges were filed against Tseng, convictions for violations of the act carried heavier sentences than those for fraud, Chen said..
The laws governing fraud were only amended later to carry heftier penalties, Chen added.
There was no legal mechanism at the time to freeze Tseng’s assets, Chen said, adding that revisions that are to go into effect in July address this problem by authorizing judges to seize property in absentia, including assets that have been transferred to a third party or sent abroad.
Additional reporting by Huang Hsin-po
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS