Prosecutors are seeking to revise the charges against former Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠), which could lead to a life sentence if he is convicted.
In a preliminary hearing at the Shilin District Court in Taipei on Wednesday, prosecutors filed an application to change the charges, citing two distinctions in the act of bribery as defined in the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
Wong was first charged with accepting bribes to carry out an action within the scope of his authority.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
However, prosecutors said that they were changing the charges to Wong having accepted bribes to use his position to persuade others to carry out an action.
The original charges carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, while the revised charges come with a penalty of 10 years to life imprisonment, they said.
Wong’s defense team said they were taken unaware by the prosecutors’ request, which was filed 10 minutes before the preliminary hearing opened, and said that the procedure was therefore flawed.
Presiding judge Peng Kai-lo (彭凱珞) ruled that the prosecution should submit documents in support of its new charges and present its argument for the change by April 14.
Asked to comment on the latest developments, Wong said he had no clue why the prosecutors were trying to change the charges.
Wong was indicted in January for corruption and misconduct as a public servant in a case involving the development of a cancer drug by biotech firm OBI Pharma.
Prosecutors said Wong profited from the 3 million OBI shares he received from OBI chairman Michael Chang (張念慈) in 2012, which they said was illegal under the Anti-Corruption Act since Wong was employed to run a government-funded institution.
They said the 3 million shares were priced at NT$31 each when the company was listed on the emerging stock market later that year.
The following year, the company was listed on the over-the-counter market at NT$310 per share, amid expectations of successful trials of its new cancer drug.
The OBI Pharma scandal erupted in February last year when the company’s share price plunged in the wake of its announcement on Feb. 21 that its cancer drug had not met expectations in its phase 2/3 clinical trial.
The case snowballed when it was discovered that Wong’s daughter had shares in the company, leading to allegations of conflict of interest against Wong.
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