Taipei Chief Prosecutor Lin Jinn-tsun (
"There will be a second indictment of suspects, including the China Development Financial Holding Corp Chairman Liu Tai-ying (
Those indicted are Zanadau Development Corp majority shareholder Su Hui-chen (
PHOTO: HUNG CHENG-HUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The seven suspects whose charges will be suspended for two years, are Kaohsiung Fifth Credit Cooperative Credit Investigative Section Chief Hung Chen-hsiung (
All seven have been charged with breach of trust. If they do not break the law within the next two years, however, the charges against them will be automatically dropped.
"The seven suspects' charges were suspended because prosecutors believe they simply accepted orders rather than deliberately committed a crime by receiving bribes of their own volition," Chen Hung-ta said.
Su was charged with violations of the Securities Exchange Law (
Lee Ming-che was charged with corruption, forgery and breach of trust. Prosecutors demanded a 12-year sentence for him, alleging he was the broker behind the scandal.
Hsieh was charged with corruption and faces a possible 14-year sentence for allegedly using Taiwan Fertilizer's money to buy Zanadau stocks and receiving bribes from Su.
Yu Chen was charged with violation of the Securities Exchange Law and breach of trust for allegedly manipulating Zanadau's stocks as the company's president in 1998.
Yu Chen's resignation as a senior adviser to the president was immediately approved by President Chen Shui-bian (
Wong was charged with corruption and faces a possible nine-year sentence for allegedly receiving NT$25 million via Hsieh, as a bribe from Su.
Lin was charged with corruption with a recommended seven-year sentence for helping Su to receive a license for the construction of Zanadau's 11.66 hectare Tahu Commercial Zone (大湖工商綜合區) in Kaohsiung County, when the company did not meet eligibility criteria for such a license.
Lee Ming-se was charged with breach of trust with a suggested four-year sentence. Charges against the rest of the bank's employees were suspended.
They all allegedly helped Su gain financing from the bank, although Su had a poor credit history and was not qualified for the mortgage.
Chinese-language media have reported that prosecutors hurried to wrap up the first indictment yesterday because their deadline for indicting or relasing two of the major suspects -- Hsieh and Lee Ming-che -- falls tomorrow.
Hsieh and Lee have been detained since Oct. 17 last year. Under the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法), a detention request is valid for two months if approved by judges connected to the case.
Prosecutors may request another two months, making the total length of the detention four months, if necessary.
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
SPEECH IMPEDIMENT? The state department said that using routine celebrations or public remarks as a pretext for provocation would undermine peace and stability Beijing’s expected use of President William Lai’s (賴清德) Double Ten National Day speech today as a pretext for provocative measures would undermine peace and stability, the US Department of State said on Tuesday. Taiwanese officials have said that China is likely to launch military drills near Taiwan in response to Lai’s speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims. A state department spokesperson said it could not speculate on what China would or would not do. “However, it is worth emphasizing that using routine annual celebrations or public remarks as a pretext or excuse for provocative or coercive
CONCERNS: Allowing the government, political parties or the military to own up to 10 percent of a large media firm is a risk Taiwan cannot afford to take, a lawyer said A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator has proposed amendments to allow the government, political parties and the military to indirectly invest in broadcast media, prompting concerns of potential political interference. Under Article 1 of the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), the government and political parties — as well as foundations established with their endowments, and those commissioned by them — cannot directly or indirectly invest in satellite broadcasting businesses. A similar regulation is in the Cable Radio and Television Act (有線廣播電視法). “The purpose of banning the government, political parties and the military from investing in the media is to prevent them from interfering
RSS