Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗) yesterday accused Chunghwa Investment Co (中華投資) president Lee Ruey-tsang (李瑞倉) of insider trading and money laundering which caused the share price of the company’s subsidiary, Chunghwa Precision Test Tech Co (CHPT, 中華精測), to plummet.
Lee, a former Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) chairman, and general manager Ting Yen-chih (丁彥致) were implicated in an alleged insider trading case, which involved the short-selling of warrants, and money laundering, Tseng said during a question-and-answer session with Premier William Lai (賴清德) at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
CHPT is a subsidiary of Chunghwa Investment, of which Chunghwa Telecom — which is overseen by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications — is the parent company.
The price of CHPT shares on Friday last week closed at NT$451, about one-third of their value of NT$1,520 in July last year, Tseng said.
The short-selling of CHPT shares allegedly began as early as January this year, when some other investors also began short-selling the warrants, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
Consequently, CHPT’s share price plummeted before Chunghwa Investment in March announced that it would sell out its stake in the firm. the source said.
One investor made a NT$2 billion (US$64.51 million) profit from the trading, Tseng said.
A witness has filed a report with the Investigation Bureau and given testimony, Tseng said, urging the authorities to ensure that any whistle-blower is adequately protected.
Lai should make sure that anyone involved in the case is punished, Tseng said, to which Lai agreed, but added that Tseng had not provided any evidence.
Tseng’s allegations were unfair to those he has accused, Lai said.
FSC Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said the commission had received intelligence on the matter, but declined to comment further, citing the principle of confidentiality in cases being investigated.
The commission probes any tip-off it receives, but Tseng’s remarks bordered on a presumption of guilt, Koo added.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Wu Hong-mo (吳宏謀) said he had no prior knowledge of the case.
The ministry would inquire into the details of the case, he added.
Tseng said that as a former FSC chairman, he is confident in his sources and his own research.
He opted to speak about the case at the legislature out of concern that the Democratic Progressive Party might “cover it up,” he added.
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