Several bankers were found not guilty last week by the Taiwan High Court on charges of offering bribes to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in relation to a series of bank mergers.
A prosecutor yesterday said they might decide not to appeal the not-guilty verdicts to the Supreme Court, which would result in the cases being dropped.
Chen was sentenced to 18 years in prison by the Taiwan High Court on Thursday for taking bribes from bankers in relation to a series of bank mergers during his eight years in office, fined NT$180 million (US$5.95 million) and stripped of his civil rights for nine years.
His wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), was sentenced to 11 years and fined NT$102 million in the same case and stripped of her civil rights for eight years.
The accused executives, including Yuanta Financial Holding Co founder Rudy Ma (馬志玲), former China Development Financial Holding Corp president Angelo Koo (辜仲瑩), Cathay Financial Holdings Co vice chairman Tsai Chen-yu (蔡鎮宇) and former Mega Financial Holding Co chairman Cheng Sheng-chih (鄭深池) were also found not guilty in the same ruling.
Only two executives were found guilty of helping the former first family to launder money — former Yuanta Financial Holding president Victor Ma (馬維建) who was sentenced to eight months in prison and granted two years probation, while former Yuanta Securities Co board member Tu Li-ping (杜麗萍) was sentenced to two months in prison and two years probation.
Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達), spokesman for the Special Investigation Division (SID) of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, yesterday said that according to the Speedy Criminal Trials Act (刑事妥速審判法), which came into force last year, if defendants are found not guilty in their first and second trials, prosecutors cannot appeal those cases to the Supreme Court unless prosecutors discover the not-guilty rulings are seriously flawed.
The prosecutor said that as the executives were found not guilty in their first and second trails, an appeal to the Supreme Court would likely not be made.
SID prosecutors charged the defendants in December 2009, alleging that the bankers had bribed the former president to pressure the Ministry of Finance to approve mergers during financial reforms promoted by the Chen administration to encourage greater consolidation in the banking sector.
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
RSS