Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團), the nation’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday confirmed that former group president Michael Lin (林振榮) and 24 other employees are suspected of having been involved in a bribery scandal.
“We have been collecting evidence related to the bribery for a while... We questioned people who might have been involved in the case on Thursday last week and took official disciplinary action against them on Friday,” FPG general administration director Ho Shui-wen (侯水文) said by telephone.
The group on Friday night issued a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange stating that Lin, who was named president of Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠) early this month, had resigned due to “personal issues.”
Photo: CNA
Ho yesterday said Lin “voluntarily” quit from his posts as company president and board member, after the Chinese-language Apple Daily report revealed that Lin was allegedly involved in a collective bribe-taking scandal.
In addition to Lin, 24 other executives and employees were fired by FPG on Friday, as the group carried out disciplinary actions in accordance with internal regulations, Ho said.
The largest collective bribery scandal in the conglomerate’s 61-year history was uncovered after FPG received a tip-off about an outside packaging company offering bribes to 25 FPG employees, Ho said.
In exchange for financial gain, the employees involved, who worked for FPG’s Formosa Plastics, Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) and Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台灣化學纖維), as well as for the group’s general administration department, had promised to place polyvinyl chloride (PVC) bulk bag orders exclusively with the packaging company, Ho said.
A PVC bulk bag is an industrial container designed for storing and transporting dry products.
“Some employees have admitted that they took bribes from the packaging company,” Ho said.
“We have submitted relevant evidence to prosecutors for further investigation,” he said, declining to confirm whether Lin admitted to taking bribes from the unidentified bag manufacturer.
According to the Apple Daily report, the bulk bag supplier had been offering financial rewards and other gifts to FPG’s employees since 2008. Employees who allegedly took bribes ranged from low-ranking administrative personnel to high-ranking managerial officials, including Lin and FPG former general administration purchase manager Chu Chin-chih (朱金池), the report said.
Ho said that as the purchase from the bag manufacturer only accounted for less than 0.05 percent of FPG’s total purchases for a year, the issue would not affect the group’s operations.
Formosa Plastics chairman Jason Lin (林健男) is to double as the firm’s president for the time being, Ho added.
Formosa Plastics shares fell 1.55 percent to NT$69.9 yesterday in Taipei trading, while Nan Ya Plastics shares dropped 0.9 percent to NT$65.9, Formosa Chemicals shares declined 2 percent to NT$73.5 and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) shares dropped 0.27 percent to NT$74.4.
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