Print

Mail

wiki links

Wang believed to be on business visa

Asia Pacific Broadband Telecom president Wang Lin-tai, right, talks to his father, Rebar Group chairman Wang You-theng, in this photo from last October. PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES

The fugitive chairman of a troubled conglomerate is in the US on a temporary visa, according to information from the US government, significantly increasing the likelihood that he will be deported to Taiwan.

The Taiwan Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TEC-RO), Taiwan's de facto embassy in Washington, issued a statement on Tuesday saying the US Department of Justice had learned that Wang You-theng (王又曾), the chairman of the scandal-plagued Rebar Asia Pacific Group (力霸亞太企業集團), entered the US through San Francisco on a Taiwanese passport using a non-immigrant B-1 business visa, which will expire in July.

His wife, Wang Chin She-ying (王金世英), entered the US on a US passport.

This has left Taiwanese diplomats breathing a sigh of relief, because if Wang were deported from the US, the fact that he entered the country using a "Republic of China, Taiwan" passport means that he will be deported to Taiwan, rather than China.

Passport canceled

Taiwanese officials said there was also a chance that Wang could be deported as an illegal immigrant, since his Taiwanese passport has been canceled by the Taiwanese government.

Such a move would depend on a judgment by the US Department of Justice declaring his visa invalid, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Spokesman David Wang (王建業) said yesterday.

Wang entered the US on Jan. 13, at which time his passport was still valid. MOFA announced it was canceling the couple's Taiwanese passports on Jan. 15. Therefore, Wang entered the US with a valid passport and visa.

According to a legal opinion provided by the US Department of Justice, although the couple's passports have now been revoked by Taiwan, their visas to the US are valid, David Wang said.

For the US justice department to determine that the couple were staying in the US unlawfully would require evidence of criminal wrongdoing offered by Taiwan, the MOFA spokesman said.

"We will provide the information that the US needs, but we cannot predict how the US will deal with this case," Wang said, adding that both sides will handle it in accordance with the Taiwan-US Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement.

Meanwhile, US and Taiwanese officials are continuing to try to track down Wang You-theng and his wife.

Armed with fresh information from Taipei about the couple's alleged illegal activities, Taiwanese authorities in the US have intensified their cooperation with US law enforcement agencies.

"I'm sure it will take quite some time," Taiwan's de facto ambassador in Washington, David Lee (李大維), told the Taipei Times on Wednesday. Nevertheless, he said he expected to make some progress "in the next few days."

Lee said TECRO had conveyed all the information it had received from Taipei to the American Institute in Taiwan office in Washington, the official contact point between Taiwan and the US, "and also my colleagues have talked with the FBI on this issue."

Lee said he was still not sure whether the US authorities would be willing to extradite the couple to Taiwan even if they were located.

"I think there are many more steps [that must be taken] before we get to that," he said.

The State Department refused to comment on the case, saying it is a law enforcement issue.

"Since the matter is being handled in legal channels, we would have to refer you to the Department of Justice or to the [Taiwanese] authorities for further information about the case," a department official said in response to a request for comment.

The FBI office in San Francisco, where the Wangs are widely believed to be hiding, did not respond to a telephone inquiry about the case.

On alert

All Taiwanese representative offices in the US have been ordered to be on the look out, a senior Taiwanese official in Washington said.

"We are all working with [US] law enforcement [agencies]," he said.

The official added that TECRO received a new file on the Wangs on Wednesday and handed it over to US authorities.

Overall, Lee was not that confident about the possibility of ultimately getting the Wangs back to Taipei to face justice.

"It is too early to say whether we can resolve this or not. But definitely we are working very hard on it," he said.

Meanwhile, a group of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday said they provided the US government with information regarding tax evasion by Wang You-theng and his wife.

"We have filled in an `Information Referral' form, and posted it to the Internal Revenue Service of the US Department of the Treasury," DPP Legislator Charles Chiang (江昭儀) said.

"The US government actually has the right to arrest Wang [You-theng] and his wife for tax evasion, given their US citizenship," Chiang said at a press conference, attended by other DPP lawmakers.

As US citizens are required to report all of their income, including offshore earnings, to the US government, the Wang couple, who have been accused of siphoning off at least NT$80 billion (US$2.44 billion), might be guilty of income tax evasion, Chiang said.

"[If the allegations are true] the US is entitled to demand the Wang couple pay US$910 million in income tax, on top of a fine of US$680 million for tax evasion and a penalty of US$230 million for failure to pay the fine," Chiang said.
This story has been viewed 2784 times.