A Chinese pilot who defected to Taiwan 19 years ago has been unable to recover millions of dollars he gave to an ex-lover -- due to the statute of limitations on criminal charges filed against her expiring.
Wu Rong-gen (吳榮根), who received 250kg of gold -- worth NT$85 million at the time he defected in 1982 -- was hoodwinked out of NT$10 million by a former lover, Liu Chi-shun (劉積順).
But because 10 years have passed since prosecutors filed charges against Liu and she remains at large, the Taipei District Court has dismissed all charges against her.
Until the late 1980s Taiwan's government gave huge rewards, in gold, to defecting Chinese pilots, based on a sliding scale. The more sophisticated the plane they flew out of China in their defection, the more was generous the reward.
In 1982, Wu flew his MiG-19 fighter (a plane that drew almost the maximum reward) to Seoul in an attempt to defect to Taiwan.
On Christmas Eve 1986, Wu went to a night club and met Liu, the club's deputy manager. Liu soon moved in with Wu and became pregnant.
Liu then asked Wu to marry her, but Wu was hesitant, fearing the relationship would bring bad publicity. He finally gave in, signing a marriage certificate under pressure from Liu and her family.
When Liu later went to Japan for an abortion, Wu decided to end the relationship.
He had the locks on his house changed, but Liu and her mother simply had a locksmith open the door when they returned from Japan.
According to the prosecutors' investigation, Wu reached a settlement with Liu and her family.
First he gave her some of the gold he received, worth NT$2.5 million, and later signed checks totalling NT$6 million.
But Liu and her mother kept asking for more money. By April 1987 Liu had received a total of NT$10 million.
Wu decided to fight back. In August 1988, he filed fraud charges against Liu.
Two years later, prosecutors completed their investigation and filed criminal charges against Liu and her mother.
Wu has since remarried and now resides in the US.
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