All the defendants in the Zanadau Development scandal yesterday denied the charges against them during the first hearing in the case, held at Taipei District Court.
One of them, Su Hui-chen (
"I do not understand why I have been indicted for paying kickbacks to those who promised me that they would help my company. I should be a victim in the case because it turns out that I paid for nothing," Su said to reporters after the hearing.
The two-hour preparatory hearing, for the purpose of establishing dates for future hearings and affirming evidence and the details of the indictments began at 9:30am yesterday and was hosted by Judge Hu Hung-wen (
Taipei Chief Prosecutor Lin Jinn-tsun (
They are Su, Lawson Corp president Lee Ming-che (
Su is charged with violations of the Securities Exchange Law (
Lee Ming-che is charged with corruption, forgery and breach of trust. Prosecutors demanded a 12-year sentence for him, alleging he was the broker behind the scandal.
Hsieh has been charged with corruption and faces a possible 14-year sentence for allegedly using Taiwan Fertilizer's money to buy Zanadau stocks and receiving bribes from Su.
Yu Chen is charged with violation of the Securities Exchange Law and breach of trust for allegedly manipulating Zanadau's stocks as the company's president in 1998.v
Wong is charged with corruption and faces a possible nine-year sentence for allegedly receiving NT$25 million as a bribe from Su.
Lin is charged with corruption with a recommended seven-year sentence for helping Su to secure a license for the construction of Zanadau's 12-hectare Tahu Commercial Zone (
Lee Ming-se is charged with breach of trust with a suggested four-year sentence. He allegedly helped Su gain financing from the bank, although Su had a poor credit history and was not qualified for the mortgage.
Mu, Huang and Fan are charged with forgery.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
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