The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a guilty verdict for Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) on charges of insider trading and market manipulation in a second ruling, handing him an eight-month prison term and ordering repayment of NT$63 million (US$2.07 million) in illegal profits.
Fu was found guilty of contravening the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) in 2003 by manipulating the stock price of Hold-Key Electric Wire and Cable Co (合機電線電纜), when he was a People First Party (PFP) legislator.
Legal proceedings began in August 2005, with the case winding through courts for 12 years. Yesterday’s decision can be appealed.
In the first ruling in 2008, the Taichung District Court found Fu guilty, imposing a 54-month prison term and a NT$50 million fine.
After an appeal, the Taichung branch of the High Court in 2010 found him guilty, handing down a 42-month prison term and a NT$40 million fine.
However, the Taipei branch of the High Court ordered a retrial, which reduced his prison time to nine months.
Following a subsequent appeal, the Supreme Court in 2014 returned the case to the High Court for a second retrial.
In yesterday’s ruling, the court said that as Fu’s insider trading and market manipulation took place in 2003, a penalty reduction was applied based on the 2007 Sentence Commutation Statutes (罪犯減刑條例), as well as the Fair and Speedy Criminal Trials Act (刑事妥速審判法).
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) questioned whether Fu received “preferential treatment from the justice system,” citing Fu’s involvement in the 1998 Typhone Food Co case.
“All defendants in the Typhone and Hold-Key cases have been serving their jail sentences, except for Fu, who was the main figure,” Tuan said. “The courts have handed him reduced terms, with more lenient sentences after each ruling, and he can still appeal the verdict.”
“Fu should be invited as a special guest at the ongoing judicial reform meetings,” Tuan added.
While Fu was elected as Hualien County commissioner as an independent, his political affiliation has leaned toward the pan-blue camp, as he began his political career with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) before joining the PFP in 2000.
Fu ran for the a legislative seat as elections in 2001 and 2005 as a PFP member, then registered to run in the Hualien County commissioner election as a KMT member in 2009, but was later expelled from the KMT.
In 2009, Fu controversially appointed his wife, now-KMT Legislator Hsu Chen-wei (徐榛蔚), as Hualien County deputy commissioner, which was predicated on the couple filing for divorce.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai