Taipei prosecutors indicted a KMT lawmaker yesterday on check fraud charges and alleged he used his position to cover up the crime.
Prosecutors yesterday asked that Liao Hwu-peng (
PHOTO: CHU YU-PIN, TAIPEI TIMESN
Investigators say Liao wrote checks after being barred from doing so, and then told banking officials to alter the documents so the checks would be cleared.
On Aug. 11 last year, the Taipei Clearing House declared Liao's account to be "dishonored" after three of his checks had bounced.
The designation meant that Liao was barred from writing new checks and any items dated after Aug. 11 wouldn't be cleared.
But prosecutors say the lawmaker kept on writing checks after that date.
They say he threatened Pai Hui-hsiung (
In all, 81 checks worth more than NT$19.5 million were involved.
Liao yesterday said he was innocent of the charges and said the Bank of Taiwan should shoulder the blame.
The lawmaker said the bank on Sept. 14 of last year had informed him that his account had been declared a "dishonored" one. He said the bank had asked him to change the dates on items written after Aug. 11 so they would be cleared.
"So I gave them my stamp to do it," Liao said.
The lawmaker said he didn't understand what all the fuss was about, as the checks he wrote after Aug. 11 were paid.
"The checks I wrote after Aug. 11 were all cashed. I don't understand why the prosecutors want to indict me," he said.
Prosecutor Liu Cheng-wu (
Liu also said that Liao had asked his assistant, Soong Chun-lien (宋春蓮), to help.
"But he did it by himself as well," the prosecutor said. "Among the 81 checks, two of them were altered by Liao himself. It's quite ridiculous for him to do this as a lawmaker, especially when the bank is located inside the Legislative Yuan [building]."
In addition to Liao, prosecutors have also asked that Soong be sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, Pai to three years and Chao to two years.
Prosecutors have also asked that Hsu Man-tzu (
Last February, Liao was indicted for allegedly counterfeiting the stock certificates of Chimei Electronics and selling them to a man for NT$106 million. The case is still pending.
Liao has served six terms in the legislature, but he decided not to run in the Dec. 1 election after the KMT implemented more stringent rules on who could run under the party's banner.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative