Hsinchu Prosecutor Wu Chao-ying (吳昭瑩) indicted Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) yesterday on charges of breach of trust and violations of the Business Accounting Law (商業會計法).
“Ker owes a total of NT$12 million [US$400,000] to Formosa Telecom Investment Co (全民電通) and his actions led the company to lose a total of NT$28 million including interest,” Wu said.
Wu said that the investigation was launched by the Supreme Court Prosecutors’ Office’s Special Investigation Section and then referred to the Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office.
Wu’s indictment said the case stems from 1997, when Ker was general manager of the company.
The indictment alleges that Ker took advantage of his position and cashed a NT$12 million check that was company property to solve personal financial problems. The sum was never repaid.
Prosecutors also said that in 1998, Ker again took advantage of his position to persuade shareholders of the company to authorize an investment proposal. They allege that Ker embezzled more money from the company to use for personal purposes.
As part of the investment proposal, shareholders agreed to put aside NT$32 million to purchase stocks in Lungyuan International Co (隆元國際), while Ker ended up NT$20 million in a private deal with Lungyuan. He then embezzled the difference of NT$12 million.
Prosecutors said Formosa Telecom lost a total of NT$24 million and an additional NT$4 million in interest.
Ker said yesterday that he had already reached an amicable solution with the company and the prosecutors were pursuing him for political reasons.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS