The High Court yesterday convicted Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘), the son-in-law of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), of insider trading and handed him a reduced three-year sentence, while his father, Chao Yu-chu (趙玉柱), was also convicted and received a two-and-a-half-year sentence.
The ruling came after 12 years of litigation of the insider trading case linked to real-estate developer Taiwan Land Development Corp (TLDC).
In the first ruling, Chao Chien-ming received a six-year jail term, which was increased in the second ruling after two retrials to a seven-year term.
The prison term was reduced to four years in the third retrial, before being reduced to three years in yesterday’s ruling.
Chao Chien-ming is currently head of orthopedics at Tainan Sin-Lau Hospital, a medical center operated by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan.
In September 2001, he married Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤), a dentist and the daughter of Chen Shui-bian, who was then in the first term of his presidency from 2000 to 2008.
In 2006, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted the Chaos, as well as former TLDC chairman Su Teh-chien (蘇德建), real-estate developer Yu Shih-yi (游世一) and former Waterland Securities Co board director Tsai Ching-wen (蔡清文), on charges of insider trading.
The Chaos did not attend the High Court’s announcement in Taipei yesterday and were not available for comment.
Chen Hsing-yu was at her private dental clinic, but declined to comment.
In yesterday’s ruling, the judges convicted Su and Yu of breaching the Securities Exchange Act (證券交易法).
Su was handed a suspended two-year term, which is to be commuted to a fine of NT$5 million (US$171,380).
Yu received a two-year sentence and a NT$60 million fine, and was ordered to pay back NT$4.75 million in estimated illegal profits from insider trading.
It was the fourth retrial, after the Supreme Court returned the case to the High Court. The ruling is not final and can be appealed.
According to the original indictment, the Chaos, Yu and Tsai in 2005 bought a large number of TLDC shares after then-TLDC chairman Su allegedly leaked confidential information regarding the approval of a syndicated loan during a meeting at a Japanese restaurant in Taipei.
Following news of the loan’s approval, TLDC shares rose sharply, with prosecutors saying that the defendants made an estimated NT$105 million through use of the insider information.
A lawyer for Chao Yu-chu yesterday said that the defendants were not involved in insider trading and would appeal the ruling.
During one of the retrials, Chao Chien-ming had admitted guilt while seeking a reduced sentence and was quoted as saying: “At the time, I did not take into account my status as the president’s son-in-law and I want to apologize for the problems that have resulted from this case.”
He had also asked for leniency, citing his volunteer work providing free medical examinations as part of a doctors’ group performing public service and his job at the hospital.
“Many elderly people need my help, and I want to have the opportunity to treat more people,” he was quoted as saying.
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