The Changhua District Court yesterday rejected an appeal from prosecutors and upheld its decision to grant bail to former senior Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際集團) executive Wei Ying-chun (魏應充).
The ruling came after the Taiwan High Court ordered the lower court to reconsider its decision on Wednesday last week to allow Wei to be released on NT$100 million (US$3.16 million) bail.
The district court yesterday again granted Wei bail, but increased the amount to NT$300 million.
Photo: Chang Tsung-chiu, Taipei Times
The court also upheld its decision to release three other defendants in the case — former Ting Hsin Oil and Fat Industrial Co (頂新製油實業) general manager Chang Mei-feng (常梅峰), the company’s former acting president Chen Mao-chia (陳茂嘉), and Yang Chen-yi (楊振益), who owns a trading company in Vietnam, Dai Hanh Phuc Co (大幸福公司) — on bail of NT$5 million each.
The four were indicted by prosecutors in Changhua on Oct. 21 last year on multiple fraud charges for allegedly selling cooking oils that contained ingredients not fit for human consumption, such as oils used in animal feeds.
Prosecutors yesterday said they disagree with the district court’s decision to grant bail to Wei, as he and other defendants could collude on testimony and destroy evidence, or might flee abroad.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
An official from the prosecutors’ office said Wei had reported personal assets of more than US$2 billion, and NT$300 million for his new bail represented less than 3 percent of his personal wealth, which meant he had the financial resources to flee abroad to avoid prosecution.
Many netizens also criticized the decision, saying the nation’s judicial system only served the wealthy.
“[Wei] is like a rich kid with lots of money, and now he is very happy to go back to the embrace of his upscale residency at The Palace,” Internet celebrity Lucifer Chu (朱學恆) wrote in a posting.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
Wei’s daily trips to a police station on Xinsheng S Road in Taipei, required under his bail conditions, have drawn protests by consumer rights activists and pro-Taiwan independence groups demanding that he be locked up.
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
RSS