A well-connected business tycoon played a role in arms sales suspected to have led to the murder of navy Captain Yin Ching-feng (
Quoting retired navy captain Benson Chu (
The Ruentex chief is known for his tight connections with the previous KMT government and is also said to have established good relations with the new government run by the DPP.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Chu was once listed as a key witness in the Yin murder case and served a prison term of 10 months on charges related to arms procurement illegalities exposed in the wake of an initial investigation. He is now a businessman.
In an interview earlier this month, Chu told Lee that he suspected the Ruentex leader and his general manager and right-hand man, Morris Huang (
The trio's relationship lasted for four years and broke up shortly after the Yin murder, Lee said.
"Chu said he felt he was a pawn to Yin and Huang. He was certain the two held secrets between themselves," Lee said at a news conference he called at the legislature yesterday morning.
"Yin [Yen-liang]'s right-hand man Huang was allegedly among the plotters of Yin [Ching-feng]'s murder. He has been abroad since January 1994, when Chu was taken into custody for suspected connections with the murder," Lee said.
The Ruentex chief was not available to respond to Lee's allegations, but he authorized his assistant to make statements to the press on his behalf.
Tseng Ta-meng (
Tseng also said that Huang worked for Yin only for a short time between 1985 and 1987 as deputy general manager of the company and that he left in 1987 and had been out of contact since then.
Tseng's statements contradicted the claims by the lawmaker that Huang worked at Yin's company until early 1994, when Chu was detained by police.
Citing more evidence to sustain his allegations, Lee said while pushing for arms brokerage deals for the Ruentex leader, Chu was offered several sites from which to work, including the Ruentex headquarters on Taipei's Tunhua South Road.
"Chu's business cards at the time show his office had the same address as the construction branch of the Ruentex Group in a high-rise building on Tunhua South Road. The only difference is that his office did not have any signboard," Lee said.
In related news, police investigating the Yin case yesterday got the chance for the first time since the reopening of the investigation to question the murdered captain's former colleague, Kuo Li-heng (郭力恆), who is widely believed to know the identity of the murderer.
During questioning in Taoyuan, police reportedly sought to reach a plea bargain with Kuo in exchange for a full confession from him of everything he knows related to the murder.
Meanwhile, at the Control Yuan, which is also launching an investigation into the case, member Kang Ning-hsiang (
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