Biotech firm Zodic Light World Technology Inc (兆良科技) chairman Hubert Lo (羅栩亮) was arrested by Ministry of Justice officers when he returned to Taiwan on a China Airlines flight from Vienna yesterday.
The Bureau of Investigation has been probing allegations that Lo was engaged in an illegal stock manipulation scheme, which is alleged to have made profits of more than NT$1 billion (US$32.12 million), that entailed the fraudulent representation and deceitful promotion of the company, which Lo set up in 2011.
When Lo deplaned at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday, bureau officers showed him the arrest warrant and put him in handcuffs, then took him to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning.
Photo: Yao Kai-shiou, Taipei Times
Lo and his wife are known for living the high life in Taipei, and local media have dubbed Lo the Taiwanese Wolf of Wall Street.
Lo said in 2011 that Zodic had formed a business partnership with European biomedical manufacturing giant Chirana Group.
He organized a press conference in June last year to announce Zodic had signed a three-year NT$20 billion partnership with a consortium in Honduras and touted it as a big opportunity to tap into the multibillion healthcare market in Latin America.
He also touted the signing of business agreements with three medical centers in Beijing that would have seen his firm enter the Chinese healthcare market.
However, his claims began to unravel when prosecutors, having received allegations of fraud from investors, conducted raids on Zodic and its subsidiaries on Monday.
Prosecutors said evidence suggested that Zodic was a shell company with no production facilities. After the raids, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said they would launch an investigation into Zodic.
Investigators alleged that Lo had announced fake international deals to bolster the firm’s stock.
Reports allege that Lo claimed that the firm’s stock would be listed in the fourth quarter of last year, while selling unlisted stock estimated to be valued at NT$1 billion.
Prosecutors on Wednesday said that they are cooperating with international money-laundering investigation authority the Egmont Group Financial Intelligence Units to trace the profits from the alleged scheme.
Lo and his wife, Lin Mei-yun (林美雲), are suspected of hiding profits in European banks, using the same methods as international money-laundering syndicates, and opened bank accounts using company subsidiaries, with employees acting as intermediaries for money transfers.
Media reports said Lo and his wife lived a flashy lavish lifestyle and drove luxury automobiles.
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