Former independent legislator Tsai Hau (
Liang, the former president of the Bank of Overseas Chinese, and Tsai were suspected of assisting Wang Hsuan-jen (
Taipei prosecutors said the pair were indicted for violations of the National Security Law (
Wang was indicted in September 2005 for breach of trust in connection with of a multi-billion NT dollar loan scandal. He and two other top officials in the bank were accused of approving illegal loans to six syndicates, including Taiwan Pineapple Corp, which cost the bank billions in bad loans.
He was convicted but fled the country before he was to begin serving his term.
Wang was repatriated from China last month, the first major economic fugitive to be repatriated since the Kinmen Agreement was signed on Sept. 12, 1990.
Prosecutors said yesterday that in interviewing Wang after his repatriation, they learned he had flown from Taipei to Penghu last May before sailing on a fishing boat to Xiamen.
The sea trip took half a day and the following day Wang traveled by train to Shanghai, where he stayed until his arrest, prosecutors said he told them.
Tsai and Liang allegedly helped Wang organize his trip and had provided him with funds, prosecutors said.
They said Liang had provided Wang with details of his experiences in fleeing the country and living as a fugitive in China.
Liang, the former president of the Overseas Chinese Bank and chairman of the Hsinchiehchung Construction Co, fled to China in 2004 after being found guilty of embezzling funds from his bank and forging contracts for the construction firm and was sentenced to a total of 26 months in prison.
He returned home in April 2006, vowing to provide testimony against former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Chen Che-nan (
Prosecutors said Liang would face another trial upon his release from prison because of the help he gave Wang.
Law enforcement officials have said because of the lack of judicial cooperation with China, Taiwan is unable to ask the Chinese to apprehend white-collar fugitives, making China a haven for white-collar fugitives.
Additional reporting by staff writer
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS