Taipei prosecutors on Thursday summoned for questioning 16 executives and employees of Mao Te International Investment and Eastern Media International (EMI) regarding an investigation into insider trading in 2017 during Mao Te’s NT$17.7 billion (US$593.2 million at the current exchange rate) acquisition of EMI’s Eastern Broadcasting Co (EBC), one of the nation’s leading cable TV networks.
After questioning, six were released yesterday, including former Mao Te chief legal officer Lin Tse-chuang (林則奘) on NT$2.5 million bail and former EMI deputy general manager Hsieh Chang-chung (謝長仲) on NT$500,000 bail.
Prosecutors were investigating Lin, Hsieh and others for possible breaches of the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法).
Evidence indicated that in the days prior to Mao Te’s announcement of the proposed acquisition on Nov. 2, 2017, executives from both companies bought large numbers of EMI shares on expectations of a surge in the price, prosecutors said.
Lin in late October 2017 allegedly purchased more than 1,000 lots of EMI shares, while his friends and relatives also bought numerous lots priced between NT$8 and NT$9 per share, they said.
Hsieh allegedly bought 50 lots of EMI shares in the days prior to the announcement, they added.
Lin and Hsieh had allegedly made a combined profit of about NT$1 million through insider trading activities, prosecutors said.
Most of those summoned for questioning were reportedly close friends or relatives of Lin and Hsieh, while the others were company employees who had knowledge of the deal and bought shares prior to the announcement.
Lin’s wife, surnamed Yuan (袁), was among those questioned and was released on bail of NT$1.5 million, while former EMI assistant vice president Huang Hsu-kuei (黃序魁) posted bail of NT$500,000.
Mao Te is owned by property magnate Chang Kao-shiang (張高祥), who is also chairman of Maw Der Property Development.
Chang was questioned as a witness in connection with the case and was released without posting bail.
The National Communications Commission approved the acquisition in January 2018, in a deal that saw Eastern Media Group chairman Gary Wang (王令麟) sell his 21.32 percent stake in EBC, terminating his involvement with the cable TV network.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS