The Executive Yuan is to investigate the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and state-owned First Financial Holding Co (第一金控) for their role in a scandal revolving around navy contractor Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co (慶富), Premier William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday.
Lai, speaking to the media before entering the Legislative Yuan in Taipei for an interpellation, said he has named Vice Premier Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉) to lead the probe.
Ching Fu, which was contracted to build minesweepers for the navy, is the subject of a criminal investigation into whether it defrauded First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) and other state-run banks of NT$15.4 billion (US$508.6 million) in a syndicated loan.
Photo: CNA
First Commercial Bank, the holding company’s main subsidiary, on Wednesday said the loan is in default because the shipbuilder had breached contractual terms.
The investigation is to determine whether the ministry followed the law when awarding the major contract to the embattled shipbuilder and whether First Commercial Bank had performed due diligence, Lai said.
Shih has been instructed to conduct a thorough investigation without regard to rank or office, report any breaches of the law to prosecutors and replace any First Commercial Bank managers found to have been negligent in their duties, the premier said.
Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) has been asked to provide all possible aid to the investigation, Lai said, adding that the public should rest assured that the probe will be thorough and impartial.
Separately yesterday, the creditor banks declared a syndicated loan to Kaohsiung-based Ching Yang Aqua Marine Enterprises Co (慶陽海洋), an affiliate of Ching Fu, in default due to its failure to pay back interest.
State-owned Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), the lead bank of Ching Yang’s syndicated loan of NT$950 million, made the decision after visiting the firm.
The creditor banks — which include Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合庫銀行), Agricultural Bank of Taiwan (農業金庫), Shin Kong Commercial Bank (新光銀行) and Bank of Kaohsiung (高雄銀行) — granted Ching Yang the loan in 2013 to build and operate a marine environment exhibition hall next to the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology in Keelung’s Badouzi Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港).
The project has stalled.
As Ching Yang failed to make an interest payment earlier this month and its underwriter, Ching Fu, is in financial trouble, the banks have filed lawsuits with the Kaohsiung District Court to freeze Ching Yang’s assets, a Land Bank of Taiwan official said.
The banks said they plan to find buyers to take over operation of the museum, which has generated revenue from ticket sales since 2013.
The banks could each incur losses of between NT$100 million and NT$150 million, depending on the degree of their participation in the loan, the official said.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
RSS