Taipei prosecutors placed former Chinatrust Financial Holding Co vice chairman Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒) on the most-wanted list yesterday -- and set a 25-year limit.
"Koo will be on the wanted list until March 27, 2031," Taipei District Prosecutors' Office spokesman Lin Jinn-tsun (林錦村) said.
Koo is wanted for questioning in connection with a probe into Chinatrust's investment in Mega Financial Holding Co.
Lin said the investigation into Koo could lead to a variety of charges, including breach of trust, violation of the Financial Holding Company Act (金控法) and violation of the Banking Act (銀行法).
Prosecutors have previously said that they might indict Koo despite his absence.
Lin said that prosecutors have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cancel Koo's Republic of China passport in a bid to restrict his movements, although they believe he has a passport from a second country.
On Nov. 23 prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Koo that was valid until Nov. 29.
They visited several locations in Taipei in the hopes of arresting him, including Koo's Taipei residence, but were unable to locate him.
Prosecutors gave Koo a few extra days to report to them, before placing him on the wanted list. Lin said yesterday that Koo is believed to be out of the country.
Prosecutors subpoenaed Koo for questioning on Nov. 7 and again on Nov. 22.
Koo first asked prosecutors for a leave of absence because he was in the US attending a two-month Eisenhower Fellowship program. After the second subpoena was issued he said he could not appear for questioning because of family reasons.
Investigators raided the head office of Chinatrust Financial Holding Co in Taipei in October and seized a number of documents. Several of Chinatrust's senior executives were detained that same month. Prosecutors said they were considering asking the Taipei District Court for a two-month extension of the detainment order for those executives.
The Financial Supervisory Commission has said that Chinatrust invested in Mega Financial via structured notes transacted through its Hong Kong branch, but later transferred those notes to another Hong Kong-based company, Red Fire Development.
Red Fire cashed the structured notes, turning a profit of more than US$31 million. The money was returned to Chinatrust after intervention by the commission.
Prosecutors suspect that Red Fire is a front company for the Koo family. They are trying to determine whether anyone profited illegally from the Mega Financial deal.
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