Former Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) vice chairman Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒) was yesterday sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison by the Taiwan High Court over his company’s illegal purchase of a stake in Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控).
In October 2010, Koo was sentenced to nine years in prison by the Taipei District Court.
The High Court yesterday sentenced Koo to nine years and eight months in prison and fined him NT$150 million (US$5 million).
Koo can appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, the High Court said.
In the ruling yesterday, the court said Koo had violated the Securities Exchange Act (證券交易法) and the Banking Act (銀行法).
According to the ruling, Koo and several company executives used NT$27.5 billion to buy a 9.9 percent stake in Mega Financial through a Hong Kong branch of Chinatrust in 2004, without the approval of the Chinatrust board.
The deal included the illegal purchase of US$390 million in loan notes, convertible into Mega shares, using money earmarked for deposits, it said, adding that profits from the transaction were locked in through insider trading.
The case, dubbed the Red Fire Case after the name of the offshore company used to conduct the operation, surfaced following prosecutors’ investigations into a bid by Chinatrust Financial to take over Mega Financial.
The ruling said Red Fire Developments, capitalized at US$1, was set up in Hong Kong under Koo’s instruction. Koo made US$30.47 million in profit from the illegal trading and did not return the profit to his company, it said.
“Koo made Red Fire Developments his private treasure and used it to collect illegal profits. Those illegal actions harmed Chinatrust and the principle of fairness in the local market,” the ruling said.
EXCUSES: Beijing is using government and research vessels as a pretext to harass the nation and enter its EEZ, and engage in ‘hegemonic expansion,’ the coast guard said The Coast Guard Administration yesterday said it drove away Chinese oceanographic research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 22 (向陽紅33) from restricted waters after warning it that it was in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Chinese vessel entered restricted waters off the coast of Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳) at 11:35pm on Thursday, the coast guard said, adding that it dispatched the Lanyu patrol vessel and the boat PP-10077 to shadow the Chinese ship and issue radio warnings ordering it to leave. China has no sovereignty over waters off Taiwan’s east coast, Lanyu’s crew told Xiang Yang Hong 22 over the radio, and demanded
Tropical Storm Mekkhala is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon tomorrow and could come close enough to Taiwan later in the week to prompt a sea warning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2 pm, the storm was located 1,870 kilometers southeast of Taiwan's southern tip and moving west- northwest at 23 km per hour. CWA forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭傑仁) said Mekkhala is expected to continue moving west-northwest through Tuesday under the influence of the Pacific high- pressure system before gradually turning north toward waters east of Taiwan or south of the Ryukyu Islands. The timing and angle of the
Four Taiwanese universities have been ranked among the world's top 200 institutions in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings for next year, the highest Taiwan has ever placed in the category, with National Taiwan University (NTU) achieving its best performance at 54th globally and 17th in Asia. The four Taiwanese institutions in the global top 200 are NTU (54th), National Tsing Hua University (142nd), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (177th) and National Cheng Kung University (191st), the rankings showed. All four universities achieved their highest-ever global rankings this year, QS data showed. National Cheng Kung University entered the top 200 for
RISING POPULARITY: Enhanced flight connectivity and a visa waiver trial program are among the motivations that have boosted travel to Taiwan by Filipinos, the agency said The Tourism Administration said yesterday that it is stepping up efforts to attract tourists from the Philippines following strong growth during the first quarter. The agency’s data showed the nation welcomed 210,000 Filipino visitors from January to March, marking a 43 percent increase compared with the same period last year. The Philippines is Taiwan’s top source of inbound tourists among the Southeast Asian nations, data showed. With a population of 116 million and national median age of 26, the Philippines boasts a young demographic with strong travel potential, the Tourism Administration said. Outbound travel demand in the Philippines continues to rise amid robust
RSS