Tainan District Court officials said they have confiscated 15 safe deposit boxes at various banks belonging to developer Lin Ming-hui (林明輝) and two architects — Cheng Chin-kuei (鄭進貴) and Chang Kuei-pao (張魁寶) — the three main figures under investigation in connection with the collapse of the Weiguan Jinlong complex in Tainan on Feb. 6.
It is a significant development, as there could be important documents and items stored in the safe deposit boxes, which could provide evidence for prosecutors to present their case, court officials said yesterday.
Tainan City Government and the Legal Aid Foundation (法扶基金會) filed three separate applications for the provisional seizure of assets belonging to Lin, proprietor of the now-defunct Weiguan Construction Co (維冠建設), and the two architects.
The court approved the three rounds of provisional seizures, which were filed on behalf of 83 victims and their relatives, following the collapse of the building when a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck southern Taiwan, claiming 115 lives.
The procedure has netted a total of NT$311 million (US$9.28 million) in assets and properties, including bank deposits, investment stocks, credit obligations, antique collection items, real estates and one luxury car, Tainan District Court spokesperson Kuo Chen-hsiu (郭貞秀) said.
Court investigators also found the 15 safe deposit boxes belonging to the suspects and applied for confiscation — the boxes have yet to be opened to determine their contents.
“We have to initiate the procedure of bringing the suspects to the banks, because safe deposit boxes can only be opened in the presence of the owners and bank officials. It is known that most of these belonged to Lin,” Kuo said.
According to legal experts, the contents of the boxes might present additional evidence for prosecutors, and contain assets that can be used to compensate victims.
Through evidence gathered during the investigation, it is suspected that Lin aimed to reap large profits from property buyers then delist his company or declare bankruptcy after the completion of a development project to evade legal responsibility and hide money from buyers seeking compensation before registering a new company name to begin another real estate development project.
Investigators said Lin might have hidden his profits in the form of gold, jewelry, cash and other valuables in the safe deposit boxes, which he could use as financial capital and guarantees when starting up another construction company for another development project.
If that is the case, then court confiscation of the contents could provide additional financial compensation for the victims of the collapsed Weiguan Jinlong complex if they are successful in the class action lawsuit filed against Lin and the two architects, along with other defendants in the case.
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