Former legislator Lo Fu-chu (羅福助), who was convicted of securities violations, has gone missing days before starting a four-year prison term, leading to airports and seaports being put on a state of alert.
The Coast Guard Administration’s 23rd Patrol Corps under the North Coast Patrol Office has compiled a total of eight different potential disguises Lo might use to slip out of the country. The corps has distributed the photographs to the security checkpoints for personnel to commit to memory.
The portfolio simulated eight different scenarios in which Lo either wore a beret, a wig, grew a beard, parted his hair down the middle, wore rimless glasses, sunglasses or was entirely bald.
The police said that they had exhausted all possible avenues in searching for Lo, but had so far failed to locate him.
Lo is supposed to start serving a four-year prison term on Tuesday for violations of the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) and the Business Accounting Act (商業會計法). He is also required to pay a fine of NT$6 million (US$203,390).
The controversial former lawmaker has not been seen in public for 23 days, according to local media reports. Some reports speculated that Lo might have fled to China.
An official with the New Taipei City Police Bureau said all staff at the bureau’s Sindian (新店) branch have been mobilized to monitor Lo for quite some time.
“We have made all possible efforts, including visiting his home in Sindian every day or every other day, but we remain unaware of his whereabouts,” the official said.
According to the bureau, the Aviation Police Office, the Coast Guard Administration, the National Immigration Agency, and the Taipei City and New Taipei City (新北市) divisions of the Investigation Bureau under the Ministry of Justice have all been cooperating closely to prevent Lo from fleeing Taiwan.
Lee Chia-ming (李嘉明), acting spokesman for the Taipei Prosecutors’ Office, said prosecutors have not received any information about Lo sneaking out of the country.
“Both Lo’s family and his secretary have told us that Lo has not fled, but did not want to see anybody at the moment,” Lee said.
On Friday, while fielding questions from the press, Lo’s son, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才), said he received a telephone call from his father a few days before, but he would not say if he knew where his father was.
Additional reporting by Lee Jung-ping
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
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