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Judicial officials named in scandal

More than a dozen judicial officials are being investigated as a result of their membership in a country club founded by the chairman of Well Phone Securities (匯豐證券), who recently fled to China.

Following the sudden closure of the 40-year-old brokerage firm on July 2, the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office launched an investigation into allegations of irregularities at Well Phone Securities Co Ltd. The firm is said to be almost NT$7 billion in debt.

The brokerage firm's chairman, Chen Chien-chi (陳謙吉), is also being investigated for allegations he embezzled over NT$70 million from Well Phone. Chen left the country a day before the company's closure.

Apart from the probe into the irregularities, the prosecutors' office initiated an investigation yesterday into Chen's relationship with the judicial community in the wake of the closure of a country club Chen formed three years ago.

The 26-member "Dragon-horse Team" was composed mainly of judicial officials, including incumbent and retired judges, prosecutors, as well as a number of businessmen.

Chen himself was the club's first-term chairman. The incumbent chairman is Yeh Mao-sheng (葉茂盛), the vice director of the justice ministry's Investigation Bureau, who said he has notified members of the club's closure in the wake of the ongoing debacle.

The judicial officials identified as being members of the club include nine judges, five prosecutors and four retired judges, who are currently either businessmen or lawyers.

Most of the judicial officials have either shied away from media interviews or denied any allegations of corruption.

Although the club's membership list does not directly connect the judicial officials to Chen or his actions, the prosecutors' office believes that some have maintained an unusually cozy relationship with Chen.

The Judicial Yuan has been looking into the case since early July.

However, an official from the judicial administration said yesterday that the information gathered thus far has been limited and they will need to coordinate with prosecutors' investigations.

According to the Taipei branch of the Investigation Bureau, Chen slipped out of Taiwan bound for Hong Kong on July 1, one day before the Securities and Futures Commission applied for a travel restriction against him.

Chen's wife was detained by bureau officials at CKS International Airport the next day as she attempted to leave Taiwan.

According to the Securities and Futures Commission, Well Phone has only NT$547 million in capital, with another NT$6.85 billion in debt that was not included on the books. That amount includes NT$1.85 billion in bank loans and another NT$5 billion in personal loans by executives of the firm.
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