Shihlin prosecutors yesterday indicted Procomp Informatics Ltd chairwoman Sophie Yeh (葉素菲) and suggested a 20-year sentence and a NT$500 million fine on charges of breach of trust and violating the Securities Transaction Law (
In addition to Yeh, prosecutors also indicted another 30 employees of the company who were allegedly Yeh's accomplices, including former general manager Hsieh Shih-fang (謝世芳) and current financial manager Lai Che-hsien (賴哲賢).
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Prosecutors suggested a 10-year sentence with a fine of NT$3 million for Hsieh and a 10-year sentence and NT$50 million fine for Lai.
Hsieh is not detained at the moment, and Lai was released on NT$1.5 million bail. Yeh has been detained since June 26.
"In the beginning, Yeh denied all the allegations," said Prosecutor Chiu Chih-hung (邱智宏), who is in charge of the investigation of the case. "But in the end, she admitted to parts of them."
Chiu and his fellow prosecutors decided to wrap up the case yesterday because Yeh's detention warrant only ran through today. Yeh and her fellow defendants are accused of stealing company assets in early June.
The initial investigation showed that Yeh had stolen approximately NT$6.3 billion (US$187 million) from the company, but Chiu yesterday said that she may have actually stolen more than NT$7 billion.
According to Chiu's indictment, Yeh filed a restructuring proposal with the Shihlin District Court on June 14. But some unusual transactions made the court suspicious.
The prosecutors' investigation uncovered an unrelated transaction that also raised eyebrows.
Yeh wired more than US$10 million to one of her US bank accounts on June 15, and was unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for that transaction, or for missing company funds.
While investigating that unusual transaction, prosecutors discovered more suspicious bank account activities of Yeh's.
According to Chiu, prosecutors initially thought that Yeh's alleged theft began in June.
However, their investigation showed that Yeh and the other defendants may have been stealing company assets since 1994, though that is as yet unproven.
"We discovered some interesting facts that may prove our allegations," Chiu said. "But currently there is a glitch between 1994 to 1999 and we are trying to figure that out."
Yeh has admitted to stealing company assets between 1998 through May of this year, Chiu said.
Chiu led a team of special agents from the Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Investigation to locate Yeh and summon her for interrogations on June 15. But her whereabouts were unknown until June 25, when she turned herself in. After a 17-hour interrogation, Chiu decided to detain her, and his detention request was immediately approved by the Shihlin District Court.
Prosecutors believe that a large portion of the missing funds were deposited in local bank accounts that have yet to be traced.
However, as of press time yesterday, Chiu did not provide further information about tracing the money.
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