A Chinese pilot who defected to Taiwan 19 years ago has been unable to recover millions of dollars he gave to an ex-lover -- due to the statute of limitations on criminal charges filed against her expiring.
Wu Rong-gen (吳榮根), who received 250kg of gold -- worth NT$85 million at the time he defected in 1982 -- was hoodwinked out of NT$10 million by a former lover, Liu Chi-shun (劉積順).
But because 10 years have passed since prosecutors filed charges against Liu and she remains at large, the Taipei District Court has dismissed all charges against her.
Until the late 1980s Taiwan's government gave huge rewards, in gold, to defecting Chinese pilots, based on a sliding scale. The more sophisticated the plane they flew out of China in their defection, the more was generous the reward.
In 1982, Wu flew his MiG-19 fighter (a plane that drew almost the maximum reward) to Seoul in an attempt to defect to Taiwan.
On Christmas Eve 1986, Wu went to a night club and met Liu, the club's deputy manager. Liu soon moved in with Wu and became pregnant.
Liu then asked Wu to marry her, but Wu was hesitant, fearing the relationship would bring bad publicity. He finally gave in, signing a marriage certificate under pressure from Liu and her family.
When Liu later went to Japan for an abortion, Wu decided to end the relationship.
He had the locks on his house changed, but Liu and her mother simply had a locksmith open the door when they returned from Japan.
According to the prosecutors' investigation, Wu reached a settlement with Liu and her family.
First he gave her some of the gold he received, worth NT$2.5 million, and later signed checks totalling NT$6 million.
But Liu and her mother kept asking for more money. By April 1987 Liu had received a total of NT$10 million.
Wu decided to fight back. In August 1988, he filed fraud charges against Liu.
Two years later, prosecutors completed their investigation and filed criminal charges against Liu and her mother.
Wu has since remarried and now resides in the US.
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday criticized the nuclear energy referendum scheduled for Saturday next week, saying that holding the plebiscite before the government can conduct safety evaluations is a denial of the public’s right to make informed decisions. Lai, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), made the comments at the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting at its headquarters in Taipei. ‘NO’ “I will go to the ballot box on Saturday next week to cast a ‘no’ vote, as we all should do,” he said as he called on the public to reject the proposition to reactivate the decommissioned
TALKS CONTINUE: Although an agreement has not been reached with Washington, lowering the tariff from 32 percent to 20 percent is still progress, the vice premier said Taiwan would strive for a better US tariff rate in negotiations, with the goal being not just lowering the current 20-percent tariff rate, but also securing an exemption from tariff stacking, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said yesterday. Cheng made the remarks at a news conference at the Executive Yuan explaining the new US tariffs and the government’s plans for supporting affected industries. US President Donald Trump on July 31 announced a new tariff rate of 20 percent on Taiwan’s exports to the US starting on Thursday last week, and the Office of Trade Negotiations on Friday confirmed that it
RSS