Kaohsiung district prosecutors yesterday indicted former National Assembly member and lawmaker Wang Shih-hsiung (
Prosecutors say Wang, while chairman of the board for a southern conglomerate, made illegal profits by knowingly taking advantage of the company's financial situation. Wang has denied the charges.
Wang served as the board chairman of the Top Group (
In March, Wang and the general manager of the Top Department Store, Lin Yi-chen (
The prosecution said in the indictment Wang and Lin were aware that the store had debts exceeding its assets and had no debt-paying ability before they held the sale, and finally failed to settle bills with the 249 companies in the closing sale worth more than NT$157 million.
The indictment also says Wang, knowing that the Top Construction and Development had no debt-paying ability and the Top Hotel was also in crisis, used a check from the construction company and shares in the hotel as collateral to borrow NT$30 million.
The creditor sued Wang after the check bounced and the hotel closed, the indictment says.
Wang denied he had any criminal intention and said the failures in paying debts were due to a cash crunch.
The indictment came as another blow to the once powerful but rapidly falling clan of southern Taiwan tycoons. Wang's father and head of the clan, Wang Yu-yun (王玉雲), was indicted in June in an illegal bank loan case.
During the heyday of the Wang clan at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, the younger Wang and his elder brother were both legislators; their father, a former Kaohsiung mayor, was a national policy adviser to the president and their uncle a Control Yuan member. The family has owned and run a wide variety of businesses.
But, in recent years the Wangs' relations with the KMT soured and family members lost several local elections.
Its businesses were also showing signs of weakness. This June Wang Yu-yun, president of the family's new flagship business Chung Shing Bank (
A sea warning for Typhoon Champi could be issued as early as Wednesday night, possibly followed by a land warning on Thursday night or Friday, as the storm approaches Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The typhoon is expected to have its greatest impact on Taiwan on Friday and Saturday, bringing heavy rain to central and northern Taiwan and to Yilan and Hualien counties in the east, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. As of 2pm yesterday, Champi was about 2,470km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving westnorthwest at 20kph. It had maximum sustained winds of 191kph and a
FRIDAY, SATURDAY: While Typhoon Champi might weaken, officials warned about large waves, while some transport services and tourist spots have been affected Typhoon Champi is forecast to have the greatest effect on Taiwan tomorrow and on Saturday, with a sea warning issued late last night and a land warning expected afternoon today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm’s projected track has shifted slightly westward and it could begin moving away from Taiwan toward Japan’s Kyushu island on Saturday, with the warnings potentially lifted as early as Saturday afternoon, CWA forecaster Chang Cheng-chuan (張承傳) said. As of yesterday afternoon, Champi was about 910km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, CWA data showed. Its maximum sustained winds had weakened slightly to
EAST OF GUAM: Tropical Storm Champi is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon, but its effect on Taiwan is uncertain due to the presence of a high-pressure system Tropical Storm Champi formed yesterday and has the potential to increase in strength, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Forecasters are closely monitoring a Pacific high-pressure system that would dictate whether the storm turns north or moves toward Taiwan next week, the CWA said. The most likely scenario is that it turns northward after passing the Ryukyu Islands, CWA forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭傑仁) said. As of 8pm yesterday, Champi was east of Guam moving west-northwest at 20kph, CWA data showed. It had maximum sustained winds near the center of 72kph and gusts of up to 101kph, the data showed. If the Pacific high-pressure system
ORIGINS: A Taiwanese doctor practicing in Japan said he no longer needed to cover the nationality label on his license with a sticker, as it used to confuse his patients Starting this month, Taiwanese professionals working in Japan can list “Taiwan” as their place of origin following Tokyo’s easing of rules on “nationality” in official licensing documents. The change was announced yesterday by the Japan-Taiwan Friendship Parliamentarians’ League in Tokyo. The license revision covers 322 professions, including doctors and nurses. Previously, Taiwanese had to list “China” as their nationality on professional certifications and licenses, but the new rules updated the “nationality” to “nationality and region” or “nationality, etc,” allowing Taiwanese to use the name “Taiwan.” The league held a meeting about the revision at the House of Representatives Members’ Office Building in Tokyo
RSS