An executive at Nankang Rubber Tire Corp has been held on suspicion of receiving NT$1.5 billion (US$50 million) in kickbacks from the firm’s suppliers.
Chen Chi-ching (陳啟清), 64, was detained and questioned yesterday at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
Chen was in charge of procurement in his role as assistant general manager of the materials department at Nankang Rubber Tire, a publicly listed company which manufactures tires and other rubber products.
The company is touted as the largest tire producer in the nation, with its brand of performance tires exported to more than 100 markets worldwide.
When prosecutors and police units searched Chen’s house in Hsinchu City on Wednesday, they reportedly uncovered more than NT$200 million stuffed into suitcases and boxes, officials said. Prosecutors also took away receipts, bank account statements, purchase orders and other papers as evidence, they said.
A spokesperson at the prosecutors’ office said Chen is suspected of demanding kickback payments from rubber materials suppliers, starting in 1997.
“One supplier [allegedly] initially had to pay Chen US$7 for the sale of 1 tonne of natural rubber material, which was raised to US$40 per tonne later on. Chen [allegedly] received about NT$230 million in total from just this supplier alone,” the spokesperson said, adding that “Chen went around to all the rubber suppliers for price comparisons and jacked up the kickback amount. From more than a dozen suppliers, we estimate Chen received about NT$1.5 billion in overall kickbacks.”
Chen’s wife, Chang Yue-chiao (張月蕉), was also detained, as a suspected accomplice.
Prosecutors said Chen opened a US dollar bank account in Mauritius, an African island nation in the Indian Ocean known as a tax haven for foreigners.
Officials said that Chen’s wife was thought to be responsible for making telephone calls to suppliers and trading companies with instructions on making wire deposits to the Mauritius account, which prosecutors said has a balance of more than US$3 million.
Chen and his wife have been charged with money laundering and breach of trust, as well as with violating the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法).
The alleged activities came to light when Nankang Rubber Tire chairman Chiang Ching-hsing (江慶興) found his company’s materials procurement deals always ran up higher costs than other competitors in the tire business.
Chiang, a retired policeman, talked with suppliers and found that Chen had allegedly taken advantage of his position to demand kickbacks.
Authorities said the stash of NT$200 million found in Chen’s home was transported to a bank for verification, then taken for storage at the National Treasury yesterday.
A tropical depression in waters east of the Philippines could develop into a tropical storm as soon as today and bring rainfall as it approaches, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, while issuing heat warnings for 14 cities and counties. Weather model simulations show that there are still considerable differences in the path that the tropical depression is projected to take. It might pass through the Bashi Channel to the South China Sea or turn northeast and move toward the sea south of Japan, CWA forecaster Yeh Chih-chun (葉致均) said, adding that the uncertainty of its movement is still high,
TAIWANESE INNOVATION: The ‘Seawool’ fabric generates about NT$200m a year, with the bulk of it sourced by clothing brands operating in Europe and the US Growing up on Taiwan’s west coast where mollusk farming is popular, Eddie Wang saw discarded oyster shells transformed from waste to function — a memory that inspired him to create a unique and environmentally friendly fabric called “Seawool.” Wang remembered that residents of his seaside hometown of Yunlin County used discarded oyster shells that littered the streets during the harvest as insulation for their homes. “They burned the shells and painted the residue on the walls. The houses then became warm in the winter and cool in the summer,” the 42-year-old said at his factory in Tainan. “So I was
THE TOUR: Pope Francis has gone on a 12-day visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. He was also invited to Taiwan The government yesterday welcomed Pope Francis to the Asia-Pacific region and said it would continue extending an invitation for him to visit Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the remarks as Pope Francis began a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific on Monday. He is to travel about 33,000km by air to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, and would arrive back in Rome on Friday next week. It would be the longest and most challenging trip of Francis’ 11-year papacy. The 87-year-old has had health issues over the past few years and now uses a wheelchair. The ministry said
Discounted 72-hour Taipei Metro passes are to be offered to China Airlines passengers until Feb. 28 next year, the airline announced today. China Airlines passengers may present their boarding pass for a discount of up to 34 percent when buying a Taipei Metro 72-hour unlimited travel pass. The offer is available to international travelers on international flights bound for Taipei. Within seven days of arrival, travelers can present their boarding pass, passport and proof of flight payment at an EZfly counter in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport or Taoyuan MRT Taipei Main Station to obtain the discounted passes, the airline said. One 72-hour pass
RSS