The Taiwan High Court yesterday dropped all charges in the corruption trial against former independent legislator Lo Fu-chu (羅福助).
“There is insufficient evidence to prove that [Lo] forged documents or violated the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) or the Business Accounting Law (商業會計法),” the verdict read.
However, Lin Chin-yuan (林錦源) — the Lo family’s longtime financial manager — was sentenced to three years and two months in prison and fined NT$10 million (US$330,000) for violating the Business Accounting Law and Securities and Exchange Act.
At press time, prosecutors had yet to decide whether to appeal the verdict.
Taipei prosecutors indicted Lo on June 7, 2002, on charges of corruption, fraud, breach of trust, usury, forgery and misappropriation of funds, and asked for a 30-year prison sentence.
Shortly before Lo’s indictment, then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had issued a call to “eradicate black gold politics and put the most notorious gangster in northern Taiwan behind bars.”
The indictment said that Lo illegally embezzled and pocketed more than NT$1.3 billion by taking advantage of his position as a lawmaker and worked with local gangsters for years to blackmail businesspeople in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.
Prosecutors also presented proof that Lo evaded taxes.
Prosecutors indicted 24 other people in the case involving Lo and Lin. High court judges sentenced them to between one and three months in jail yesterday.
The 30-year sentence was overturned by the Taipei District Court after the first trial on Sept. 25, 2003, reducing it to just four years.
On April 27, 2006, high court judges decreased it again to three years and nine months.
High court judges began a retrial after the Supreme Court granted Lo’s appeal, but decided to drop all charges against him yesterday.
NEW AGREEMENT: Malaysia approved imports last year after nearly two years of negotiations and inspections to meet quarantine requirements, officials said Up to 3.6 tonnes of pomeloes from Taiwan cleared Malaysian customs on Friday, in the first shipment of Taiwanese pomeloes to Malaysia. Taiwan-grown pomeloes are popular in domestic and overseas markets for their tender and juicy taste, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said. The fruit is already exported to Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, it added. The agency began applying for access to the Malaysian market in 2023, compiling data on climate suitability, pests and diseases, and post-harvest handling, while also engaging in nearly two years of negotiations with Malaysian authorities and submitting supplementary
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
Tigerair Taiwan and China Airlines (CAL) today announced that several international flights were canceled or rescheduled due to Typhoon Ragasa. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has maintained sea and land warnings for the typhoon. Its storm circle reached the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) on Taiwan's southern tip at 11am today. Tigerair Taiwan said it canceled Monday's IT551/IT552 Taoyuan-Da Nang, IT606/IT607 Taoyuan-Busan and IT602 Taoyuan-Seoul Incheon flights. Tomorrow, cancelations include IT603 Seoul Incheon-Taoyuan, as well as flights between Taoyuan and Sapporo, Osaka, Tokyo Narita, Okinawa, Fukuoka, Saga, Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya, Asahikawa and Jeju. On Wednesday, the IT321/IT322 Kaohsiung-Macau round-trip would also be canceled. CAL announced that today's
Three tropical depressions yesterday intensified into tropical storms, with one likely to affect Taiwan as a typhoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The three storms, named Mitag, Ragasa and Neoguri, were designated as storms No. 17 to 19 for this year, the CWA said. Projected routes indicate that Ragasa is most likely to affect Taiwan, it said. As of 2am today, Ragasa was 1,370km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) on the southernmost tip of Taiwan. It was moving west-northwest before turning northwest, slowing from 11kph to 6kph, the agency said. A sea warning for Ragasa is unlikely before Sunday afternoon, but its outer rim