The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday gave Ruentex Group chairman Samuel Yin (尹衍樑) a deferred prosecution for his role in the alleged state funds embezzlement case made against former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s Special Investigation Division (SID) on June 30 last year indicted Lee and his aide, Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英), accusing the pair of siphoning US$7.8 million to establish the Taiwan Research Institute (TRI) when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attempted to reimburse secret diplomatic funds between 1998 and 1999.
The SID claimed the pair embezzled money from a secret 49 million rand donation (then worth US$10.5 million) that had been set aside in May 1994 to give to the ruling party of a then-diplomatic ally, reportedly South Africa’s African National Congress.
The prosecution claims Liu, with Lee’s apparent approval, laundered NT$250 million (US$8.3 million) in American Express travelers checks that were given to Yin, who then, along with several of his company’s subsidiaries, made personal donations to the TRI.
The SID said Yin was suspected of violating the Business Accounting Act (商業會計法) and of committing forgery, and it turned him over to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for further investigation.
The prosecutors’ office yesterday said that since Yin had donated NT$600 million to academics, religious and charitable organizations over the years, and had promised to give another NT$10 million to charities during the investigation, prosecutors decided to grant him a deferred prosecution.
Prosecutors added Yin had admitted to laundering the money and expressed his regret. They also said Yin had to make the NT$10 million donation within three months.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
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