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Powerchip chief charged with insider trading

Hsinchu prosecutors yesterday indicted Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體) chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) on suspicion of insider trading and recommended a sentence of four years and six months in prison and a fine of NT$60 million (US$2 million).

“Prosecutors have found sufficient evidence that Huang earned more than NT$11 million through insider trading deals,” the Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement.

Powerchip investment adviser Huang Jiunn-chin (黃俊欽) was also indicted, with prosecutors recommending a 30-month sentence and a fine of NT$10 million.

Frank Huang was released on NT$10 million bail and Huang Jiuun-chin on NT$2 million bail.

Huang’s indictment was the result of a joint investigation effort between the Supreme Court Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Section and the Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office.

Prosecutors said that Powerchip, the nation’s largest maker of computer memory chips, started discussions with local rival Macronix International Corp (旺宏電子) in August 2005 about a possible business partnership. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding in November that year, with Macronix also agreeing to sell a 12-inch wafer factory to Powerchip.

Prosecutors said that before the proposed business partnership and the sale of the factory were approved by the boards of the two companies and the information released to the public, officials from the two companies, including Frank Huang and Macronix director Chen Hung-chih (陳鴻智), traded NT$560 million in Macronix shares, transactions that could involve insider trading.
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