President Chen Shui-bian's (
The Chaos were found guilty of insider trading in connection with the Taiwan Development Corp scandal and other illegal deals.
The father and son were also fined NT$30 million (US$927,000) each.
The Chaos and other defendants may appeal the ruling to the Taiwan High Court.
In its ruling yesterday, the Taipei District Court said: "They used their political influence to intervene in big business and political affairs. Illegal lobbying and insider trading were the methods they used."
They had shown no regret for their actions and heavy sentences were appropriate, the ruling said.
Chao Yu-chu embezzled NT$11 million from Eslite Books chairman Robert Wu (
Former Taiwan Development Corp chairman Su Teh-jien (
Waterland Securities Co board director Tsai Chin-wen (
Chao Chien-ming, Chao Yu-chu, Su, Tsai and Yu made more than NT$10 million through insider trading of TDC shares.
The scandal dates back to last summer when Su, Chang Hwa Commercial Bank chairman Chang Po-shin (張伯欣) and bank president Chen Chen-chao (陳辰昭) dined on two occasions with Chao Chien-ming, Tsai and Yu at a Japanese restaurant in Taipei.
Confidential information about Taiwan Development Corp was discussed on both occasions.
The court noted that Chao Chien-ming, his father, Tsai and Yu each bought a large number of shares in the corporation shortly afterwards.
In related news, Nice Group president Chen Jing-yao (
Chen and Hung were found guilty of breach of trust in connection with the transfer of NT$27 million to Chao Yu-chu's accounts.
Prosecutors believe that the money was a bribe for Chao Chien-ming's efforts to help Chen Jing-yao win the leadership of Waterland Financial Holdings Co last year.
The court found that there was insufficient evidence that the Chao family attempted to manipulate that leadership race, and thus neither were charged on that count.
also see story:
Reaction mixed to convictions of Chen's in-laws
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
RSS