Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒), a major shareholder of CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金), was released yesterday morning on bail of NT$100 million (US$3.10 million) after being questioned overnight by prosecutors.
A number of CTBC executives and other suspects were also released as a judicial probe into alleged illegal financial dealings involving several of the nation’s leading financial companies and executives continued.
Gobo Group (國寶集團) president Chu Guo-rong (朱國榮), reportedly a major financial backer of the Chinese-language weekly magazine The Journalist (新新聞), remained in custody at press time last night.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The Taipei District Court approved a request by prosecutors that Chu be held incommunicado. Prosecutors said Chu played a major role in the alleged financial irregularities and might tamper with evidence if he is released.
The Special Investigation Division (SID), a unit of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in charge of major corruption and economic crimes, headed up the probe into four cases of insider trading, profiteering on real-estate transactions and illegal transfers of company funds.
Two other people involved in the case, both of whom work for CTBC, were also released on bail and barred from traveling overseas.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
In addition to being a major shareholder, Koo is responsible for CTBC’s day-to-day management. He is also the chairman of Chinatrust Charity Foundation (中信慈善基金會) and the owner of Chinatrust Group’s Brothers Baseball Club (中信兄弟), a team in Taiwan’s professional baseball league.
Koo was released at about 5:20am yesterday after 14 hours of questioning. He faces charges of violating the Banking Act (銀行法) and the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法), and is banned from traveling abroad.
Showing signs of fatigue, Koo said to the throng of reporters: “This is all a misunderstanding,” and that he did not know why he was questioned for so long.
As Koo walked to a car waiting to pick him up, he asked: “Did our baseball team win or lose last night?”
The Brothers lost 22-9 to the Lamigo Monkeys on Wednesday.
When the bail for NT$100 million was announced, the Koo family and CTBC staff gathered the money in about 40 minutes and delivered it to the SID’s office in three cases at about 4:20am.
Koo Jr was involved in another financial scandal relating to Chinatrust Bank’s (the former name of CTBC Bank) purchase of a stake in Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控), and fled the country in 2006. He stayed in Japan as a fugitive and returned in 2008.
The Taipei District Court in October 2010 found Koo and several senior executives guilty of illegal financial transactions, including using Red Fire Developments (紅火公司), an offshore shell company set up by Chinatrust’s Hong Kong branch, to pocket more than US$30 million. Koo was sentenced to nine years in prison; the case is under appeal.
On Wednesday, SID officials raided 58 offices and residences across the nation to gather evidence, while summoning 94 people for questioning, either as suspects or witnesses.
The SID said that from 2003 to 2007, CTBC Financial illegally transferred company assets worth about US$300 million into accounts controlled by Koo on the pretext of investing in subsidiaries.
Prosecutors said board members or employees of CTBC Financial might have formed a shell company to partner with Chong Hong Construction Co (長虹建設) to purchase a plot of land in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) to construct an office building.
Prosecutors said collaborators in the deal sold the land to the financial holding company’s banking unit, CTBC Bank Co Ltd (中國信託銀行), for more than NT$5 billion and pocketed the difference.
SID officials said Gobo Group might have been involved in stock speculation and insider trading since January last year, generating more than NT$100 million in illicit profits.
Additional reporting by CNA
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source