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Former CEO on the run in the US fails to appear in court

The Taipei District Court yesterday listed former Tuntex Group president Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪) and his wife, Lin Fu-mei (林富美), as fugitives after they failed to attend hearings related to their indictments on charges of breach of trust.

The pair were first charged on March 13 and were summoned to a hearing on April 11, according to Liu Shou-sung (劉壽嵩), the spokesman of the Taipei District Court.

After they failed to respond to a second summons for a hearing on April 25, the court issued a warrant for their arrest, Liu said. After a third hearing today, the court listed them as fugitives, Liu said.

For a court hearing, witnesses and plaintiffs have the right to ask to be excused, but defendants do not, Liu said.

The couple's defense counsel said that his clients were being treated at the medical center of the University of California in San Francisco, Liu said.

According to a doctor's note provided by the couple's lawyer, Chen has kidney problems and Lin has eye problems which prevented them from returning to Taiwan.

However, the judge rejected this excuse after Prosecutor Kuo Yung-fa (郭永發) showed that they had left and re-entered Taiwan more than 45 times since 2001.

"If they are really sick, how could it be possible that they could travel so often? It doesn't make sense," Kuo said.

The couple reportedly left Taiwan for China last August, but their current whereabouts were not known until their lawyer presented the doctor's note yesterday.

Chen and Lin are accused of stealing NT$800 million from group subsidiary Tunghua Development in 1995 and investing the money in China.

The Tuntex Group is one of the country's largest conglomerates, incorporating department stores, property development and construction. Tunghua Development is a property development company.

The Tuntex Group experienced a financial crisis in 1995 and 1996, which many now attribute to suspected theft by the couple.

Kuo indicted Chen and Lin on March 13 on the charge of breach of trust and suggested sentences of two years and six months for each of them.
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