Head of the Hone Shee Group (
Chang, whose group built the luxurious Ta Shee Resort (大溪山莊) in 1987, was accused of illegal occupation by the grandchildren of a Taoyuan County land owner, Huang Shih-chiao (黃師樵), who claims rights to the plots of land on which the entrance to the resort was built.
Ta Shee Resort, situated in Taoyuan County, is one of the nation's most exclusive golf club resorts, attracting notable figures and political leaders such as former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰).
The Huang family heir said Hone Shee built the entrance to its Ta Shee Resort in 1993 on plots of land that belonged to them, without authorization from the family.
Inheriting the disputed land in 1999, Huang's two grandsons and a granddaughter are now suing Chang for illegal occupation and are also seeking civil compensation from the developer.
Testifying at the first hearing of the case at Taipei District Court yesterday, Chang insisted he had obtained a written agreement to use the land, as early as 1987, from the original owners of the land -- the plaintiffs' grandfather and another land owner, Chiang Shih-pi (江石筆).
Chiang said he had managed to negotiate with the plaintiffs' father over use of the land after their grandfather died. He said he believed the Huang family and Hon Shee had reached a "consensus" over the use of the land, as both parties seemed satisfied with the situation for the last 10 years.
He also argued Hon Shee had wanted to purchase the land, with the agreement of the Huang family. But, he said, the deal had been deadlocked due to inheritance problems over the land.
The Huang family lawyer, however, said the family denied they had reached any sort of "consensus" over Hon Shee's occupation of the land and that the land dispute had been ongoing.
The plaintiffs also said Chang was lying about the agreement he said he obtained from the family's grandfather and asked him to show an original copy of the agreement as proof.
They said that while Chang claimed he obtained the agreement in 1987, the family's grandfather had in fact been dead since around 1980 and couldn't have possibly signed the agreement.
The Huang family also accused Chang of forgery as they said he had used a "forged" agreement to gain permission from Taoyuan authorities in 1988 to build on the land.
Aside from filing the suit against Chang in August, the Huangs are also seeking damages through a civil suit, and have asked Hone Shee to return profits that it acquired from "unlawful" use of the family's land over the past years. The trial continues.
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