Zanadau instigator arraigned again

Vice President and principal shareholder of the Zanadau Development Corp Su Hui-chen (蘇惠珍) was arraigned again by the Kaohsiung Prosecutors Office yesterday, according to Chinese-language media reports.

Investigators have obtained new evidence and suspect fraud because the information provided by Su regarding changes in land ownership and capital flows was incomplete.

Su was first arraigned on Dec. 23 when investigators armed with subpoenas and search warrants took in 16 suspects and also raided the vice president's residence and offices.

After an interrogation that lasted 24 hours, the Kaohsiung District Court ordered that Su, despite objections from the prosecutors' office, be released on the grounds that the detention request had not been submitted within the required 24 hours.

The justice authorities began investigating the Zanadau case in late September after Su claimed that Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英), a former chairman of the KMT's Business Management Committee, had accepted over NT$1 billion from Su since 1998 in exchange for his assistance in the Zanadau project.

The Taipei Prosecutors Office has interviewed Su several times over the past three months to collect evidence of suspected misconduct involving Liu and other suspects.

On Nov. 27, Liu was subpoenaed, but despite prosecutors' accusations of breach of trust, conversion,and violating the Securities Transaction Law, he was later released by the Taipei District Court.

Meanwhile, Kaohsiung prosecutors have been gathering evidence of suspected fraud, collusion and profiteering in the Zanadau project's land acquisition and license application process.

Media reports state that, according to the prosecutors office, Su and her collaborators are suspected of having siphoned off company assets and breaching the trust of shareholders by making money by acquiring land at low cost before reselling it at sky-high prices.

The reports go on to say that a Kaohsiung County Government official was detained by the Kaohsiung District Court after being arraigned and interrogated on Dec. 23 for his involvement in Zanadau's license applications.

According to the media, Su said upon her arraignment yesterday morning that she assumed the court would detain her this time. She was reported to have added that although she doesn't have much confidence in investigators, she is voluntarily offering evidence to help clarify her case, and has prepared a sackful of materials for that express purpose.

Su said last week that she was upset at becoming a defendant in a case which is built on information first revealed by her.