Prosecutors from the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday searched the residence of property developer Lin Ming-hui (林明輝) as part of an ongoing investigation into the collapse of the Weiguan Jinlong complex on Saturday last week, while the Tainan District Court approved a request to freeze some of the assets of Lin and two other men.
Lin accompanied the search team, which was looking for documents regarding the complex in Tainan’s Yongkang District (永康).
He was chairman of the board of the now-defunct Weiguan Construction Co (維冠建設), which built the massive complex.
Lin and architects Chang Kui-pao (張魁寶) and Cheng Chin-kui (鄭進貴) were detained on Tuesday night.
The prosecutors’ office said the investigation is focusing on allegations that the company skimped on materials and arbitrarily changed designs.
The district court yesterday morning approved the prosecutors’ request that assets of up to NT$30 million (US$894,988) belonging to the three men be provisionally seized to prevent them from being liquidated while the investigation is underway.
It also set a low guarantee of NT$500,000 for anyone wishing to file a lawsuit to freeze Lin’s assets.
By law, applications to freeze an individual’s assets require a deposit or “guarantee fee” ranging from one-tenth to one-third of the total amount of assets to be frozen.
The Tainan City Government said the initial freeze of NT$30 million was done on behalf of victims who lost their homes and those who suffered minor injuries in the collapse.
The city government said it made a preliminary estimate of NT$30 million for property losses. as it is not yet possible to come up with the full amount. because victims of the disaster are still trying to come to grips with the extent of their losses.
Respecting the victims’ need to grieve, the city government said it did not ask any of the victims if they wanted to join in the application before it submitted the request on Thursday, although it has begun to receive calls about how to take such actions.
Seeking a freeze on the trio’s assets would assure a financial source to compensate the quake victims if the city wins the lawsuit, officials said.
There is still room for more of the assets of Lin and others to be seized or frozen if more people join the suit, they said.
Victims of the Weiguan Jinlong complex’s collapse are urged to call the city government’s legal service branch for help and information.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would