Prosecutors said they plan to file additional requests for the seizure of assets on behalf of victims against property developer Lin Ming-hui (林明輝), after an investigation found that he owns 30 pieces of real-estate around Tainan.
Lin has been questioned in relation to the collapsed Weiguan Jinlong complex (維冠金龍大樓) in Tainan’s Yongkang District (永康) following last Saturday’s magnitude 6.4 earthquake.
The Tainan chapter of the Legal Aid Foundation said it is mobilizing lawyers to offer legal assistance, and will help the victims and their families to file a class-action lawsuit against Lin and other suspects involved in Weiguan Construction Co (維冠建設) projects.
Raids were conducted in several locations over the past few days by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, which said that Lin owns 30 properties around Tainan with an estimated value of more than NT$100 million (US$3.03 million).
However, most properties are allegedly registered in the names of Lin’s relatives.
The Tainan District Court had already approved a request to seize assets of up to NT$30 million from Lin and the two architects who worked on the Weiguan Jinlong complex, in addition to six other suspects associated with the case to prevent assets being liquidated during the investigation.
Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) on Friday said that he asked the city government’s legal counsels and prosecutors to file for the seizure of additional assets, after obtaining approval from the victims of the collapsed complex.
“The court has approved the seizure of assets up to NT$30 million; that was not enough. We must take into account the total number of fatalities and the financial loss incurred by the victims and their families,” Lai said.
Lai said the city government would help victims pay the NT$500,000 guarantee fee, which is required to file for freezing Lin’s assets.
The Legal Aid Foundation’s executive secretary in Tainan, Cho Ping-chung (卓平仲), said their lawyers have set up temporary offices at the main funeral parlor and also at the city government building to help victims and their families handle legal affairs.
Cho said that they plan to file a class-action lawsuit against Lin and the two architects.
Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office spokesman Chen Chien-hung (陳建弘) said investigators carried out a second search at Lin’s residence to gather more evidence and that other suspects, along with four witnesses associated with the case, have been summoned for questioning in the past few days.
The focus of the investigation was to examine property registration and other business documents to find all the land development projects that Lin had been involved in.
Lin has changed his name several times and has also registered different business, Chen said.
Prosecutors allege that Lin aims to reap large profits from property buyers, then delists his company or declares bankruptcy after the completion of a development project to evade legal responsibility and hide money from buyers seeking compensation.
Prosecutors said Lin then registers a new company name to begin another project.
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