Taipei District Court Judge Lu Yu-jen (呂煜仁) yesterday ruled in favor of former minister of finance Yen Ching-chang (顏慶章) and dismissed charges that he violated the Civil Servants Work Act (公務員服務法).
Yen retired from his position as Taiwan’s representative to the WTO in March of 2005 and then took on the position of president of Fuhwa Financial Holding Co in June of the same year. He was indicted on April 10 this year.
Prosecutors said his conduct violated Article 14-1 of the act, which stipulates that retired civil servants cannot accept a top position at any private company they supervised during the five-year period before their retirement.
Yen served as the minister of finance from Oct. 6, 2000, to Jan. 31, 2002, and as the nation’s representative to the WTO from Feb. 1, 2002, to March 23, 2005.
Fuhwa’s license application was approved on Dec. 31, 2001, by the Ministry of Finance when Yen was finance minister.
Taipei District Court Spokesman Huang Chun-min (黃俊明) yesterday said the court found that Yen’s last day at work as a civil servant should be considered Jan. 31, 2002, because his position as the representative to the WTO did not give him the authority to “supervise” Fuhwa.
It also said that prior to accepting the offer from Fuhwa, Yen double-checked with the Ministry of Civil Service on whether he would violate any law.
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