Zanadau hearing begins

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 (蘇惠珍), the majority shareholder in the company, insisted that she was a victim rather than a perpetrator of wrongdoing.

"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 (胡宏文).

Taipei Chief Prosecutor Lin Jinn-tsun (林錦村) indicted 10 suspects in the case on Feb. 14.

They are Su, Lawson Corp president Lee Ming-che (李明哲), former Taiwan Fertilizer Corp (台肥) chairman Hsieh Sheng-fu (謝生富), former senior adviser to the president Yu Chen Yueh-ying (余陳月瑛), former KMT lawmaker Wong Chung-chun (翁重鈞), former chief of Kaohsiung County Government Public Works Bureau Lin Chi-jui (林琦瑞), former general manager of Kaohsiung Fifth Credit Cooperative Lee Ming-se (李明色) and Zanadau employees Mu Chih-yu (穆治宇), Huang Shao-ying (黃紹瑛) and Fan Chia-chieh (樊嘉傑).

Su is charged with violations of the Securities Exchange Law (證券交易法) and Banking Law (銀行法), forgery and breach of trust. Prosecutors requested a four-and-a-half-year sentence for Su, who they suspect of using Zanadau's money for private purposes and illegally manipulating the company's stocks as the company's vice president.

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 (大湖工商綜合區) in Kaohsiung County, when the company did not meet eligibility criteria for such a license.

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.