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Former UMC head says retrial is a 'waste of time'

Former United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) chairman Robert Tsao (曹興誠) yesterday said that prosecutors were wasting everyone's time by appealing his breach of trust case to the Taiwan High Court.

Tsao's complaint came after high court judges hearing his retrial said more witnesses needed to be summoned and more evidence gathered concerning the charge of aiding the Taiwanese company in illegally investing in China.

"It is my understanding that to indict a person, prosecutors need sufficient evidence and statements from witnesses. Now your honors believe the prosecutors' evidence and statements are insufficient. I think the prosecutors are wasting everybody's time because they hadn't finished their investigation before they submitted this case to the court," Tsao said.

Tsao, former UMC vice chairman John Hsuan (宣明智) and Cheng Tun-chien (鄭敦謙), head of Fortune Venture Capital Corp (宏誠創投), a UMC affiliate, were indicted on charges of breach of trust and violating the Business Accounting Law (商業會計法) by helping UMC, the world's second-biggest contract chipmaker, invest in China's He Jian Technology (Suzhou) Co (和艦科技) without first obtaining the approval of shareholders.

On Oct. 26 last year, the Hsinchu District Court ruled in favor of the three, saying that there was insufficient evidence to prove that UMC had invested in He Jian. Hsinchu prosecutors then appealed to the high court.

All three suspects were present yesterday as the high court held its first hearing in the new trial. Hsuan also said that he had no idea why prosecutors would indict them when it seemed they did not possess sufficient evidence.

"It seems to me that they are not ready; this is a strange indictment," Hsuan told reporters after the hearing.

The second and third hearings of the trial are scheduled for Feb. 22 and Feb. 29.

Tsao, 60, resigned as chairman for UMC in January 2006, after his indictment for allegedly helping He Jian set up a plant in 2002.

On July 19 last year, the Taipei Administrative High Court overturned a decision by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to impose a NT$5 million (US$152,500) fine on UMC for investing in He Jian without regulatory approval. The ministry then appealed the case to the high court.

The ministry accused Tsao and other company officials of providing technical know-how to He Jian in November 2001 without seeking government approval.

But the Taipei Administrative High Court said at the time that UMC's relationship with He Jian could not be classified as an investment, as the company provided only technical assistance to the Chinese chipmaker.
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