A Taiwanese-American man who evaded an arrest warrant in 2008 in connection with the embezzlement of US$28.9 million (NT$925 million) in Taiwanese diplomatic funds will appeal a Singapore High Court ruling ordering him to return the money, his attorney said yesterday.
Ching Chi-ju (金紀玖) intends to file an appeal with the Singapore Supreme Court against the ruling and the high court has already agreed to let him pay his legal fees with money from his frozen bank accounts, said Ching’s attorney, Lawrence Lee (李文光).
The court allowed Ching to withdraw up to S$2,000 (US$1,400) per day from the bank accounts for living expenses, Lee said.
In a sentence rendered on May 10, the Singapore High Court granted Taiwan’s request that Ching and the man he allegedly helped embezzle the funds, Wu Shih-tsai (吳思才), return the US$29.8 million to the Taiwanese government.
In 2008, a warrant was issued for Ching’s arrest and Wu was sentenced to prison in connection with a scheme in which they allegedly bilked the Taiwanese foreign ministry of US$29.8 million entrusted to them in 2006 to help forge ties with Papua New Guinea.
It was disclosed that in 2006 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wired the funds to a joint bank account in Singapore held by the two men, but the Papua New Guinea deal never materialized and the men were accused of stealing the money.
Wu was arrested in Taiwan in 2008 and sentenced to two years and four months in jail, which he is still serving.
Ching went into hiding in the US before Taiwanese authorities could arrest him and did not appear in court in Singapore where the case was heard.
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