Former legislator Wu Der-mei (吳德美) was taken into custody yesterday evening on suspicion of involvement in financial irregularities at Kaohsiung's Feng An Metal Company (峰安金屬).
Others detained at the same time included Chen Chen-jung (陳振榮), the head of Chen An Enterprises (震安企業) and Tzeng Bao-kuan (曾寶冠), head of the Chang Tung Construction Company (長東建設).
Kaohsiung City Councilor Chu An-hsiung (
Prosecutors suspect that Wu, along with others, was responsible for the irregular movement of some NT$2 billion in funds between Feng An, Chang Tung and Chen An between 1997 and 1998.
The funds were transferred when Feng An was raising money by selling rights to buy stock in the company. Investigators suspect the sale was used as a cover to move funds out of Feng An.
After opening a large-scale investigation into the case on Wednesday, prosecutor Lin Ying-hua (林應華), of the Black Gold Investigation Center at the Kaohsiung district prosecutor's office, requested on Thursday that Wu and Chu report to him for questioning.
Chu declined the request, saying that he had to attend a meeting of city councilors.
A former member of the Control Yuan, Chu is a prime suspect in the case. However, he enjoys temporary protection due to his position as a city councilor.
Prosecutors plan to contact him immediately after city council meetings conclude at the end of the month.
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