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Shareholders' lawyer pans Wang for seeking asylum

The US-based lawyer who represents shareholders in the embezzlement lawsuit against fugitive Wang You-theng (王又曾) criticized Wang yesterday for seeking political asylum in the US.

Lawyer Chiu Chang (邱彰), who represents 33 shareholders in the lawsuit against Wang, yesterday showed copies of the defense report Wang's lawyers submitted to the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Pasadena, California, on May 7.

Political persecution

Chiu said Wang was apparently hoping to gain political asylum in the US by claiming that he was politically persecuted by the Taiwanese government.

In a document signed by Wang, he described himself as a victim of political oppression because he was born in China.

"Because I am a businessman who came from China in 1949 and was labeled by the Taiwan independence movement extremists in the Taiwanese government as a `Mainland Chinese,' I have been politically and economically discriminated against as well as persecuted by the pro-independence Taiwanese authorities," Wang said in the document.

"[The] Taiwanese premier [Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌)] personally announced and ordered a persecution campaign against me while I was on my New Year vacation overseas," he said.

Wang said that while Taiwanese government officials claimed he had embezzled funds from the Rebar Asia Pacific Group (力霸亞太企業集團), "all the businesses which I have an interest in are still running smoothly in Taiwan."

Joint conspiracy

He also described the 33 shareholders' compensation lawsuit as a "joint conspiracy to extort some `extra money' during this government persecution campaign."

Chiu told the press conference that the shareholders' lawsuit is scheduled to be heard in on June 27 and that she hoped Taiwan's "new premier will not forget Wang's case."

Wang and his wife, Wang Chin She-ying (王金世英), fled the country at the end of last year immediately before a financial scandal erupted, bringing down two Rebar subsidiaries, China Rebar (中國力霸) and Chia Hsin Food and Synthetic Fiber Co (嘉新食品化纖), and causing a run at The Chinese Bank (中華銀行), another Rebar subsidiary.

Prosecutors have sought a 30 year prison sentence and an unprecedented fine of NT$1.71 billion (US$52.13 million) for Wang You-theng for embezzling funds from the Rebar Group.

Wang has been held at an immigration detention center outside Los Angeles since Feb. 2, pending a decision by a US immigration court on whether to deport him back to Taiwan.
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