A former Ministry of Labor official and 11 members of four local asset management firms were yesterday charged with corruption and manipulating stock prices in a labor fund bribery case.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office charged Yu Nai-wen (游迺文), former head of the Domestic Investment Division of the ministry’s Bureau of Labor Funds, with contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and the Securities and Exchange Act (證交法) by accepting bribes from PJ Asset Management Co Ltd (寶佳資產管理) chief executive officer Daniel Tarng (唐楚烈) and executive Chiu Yu-yuan (邱裕元), the indictment said.
The firms allegedly made illicit gains of NT$180 million (US$6.34 million).
Others indicted include Uni-President Assets Management Corp (統一投信) vice president Chueh Chih-chang (闕志昌), managers Sun Min-cheng (孫民承) and Kuo Shih-ching (郭士慶), and analyst Yu Chien-yeh (俞建業).
The list also includes Fuh Hwa Securities Investment Trust Co (復華投信) chief investment officer Chiu Ming-chiang (邱明強), asset manager Liu Chien-hsien (劉建賢) and analyst Chen Chou-lun (陳周倫), as well as Capital Investment Trust Corp (群益投信) vice president Hsieh Chih-ying (謝志英) and analyst Tang Ming-chen (湯明真), prosecutors said.
Tarng and Chiu had been collaborating since May 2019 to manipulate the Far Eastern Department Store stock price in the hopes of boosting it before selling their shares from April to July last year, they said.
However, the return was not as profitable as they had predicted, so they decided to ask Yu Nai-wen to manipulate Far Eastern’s stock price using the labor fund, they said.
From July, Yu Nai-wen maintained close contact with PJ Asset Management, Uni-President Assets Management, Fuh Hwa Securities Investment and Capital Investment Trust, all of which held a large number of Far Eastern shares, prosecutors said.
Yu Nai-wen has also been accused of asking the assets management companies to buy Far Eastern shares at higher than market prices.
Prosecutors said they found that Yu Nai-wen had spent NT$150,000 to NT$220,000 per month using his credit card from September 2012 to September last year.
However, he only earned a monthly salary of NT$100,000, they said.
In addition, about NT$9 million was deposited from an unidentified source into Yu Nai-wen’s account during that period, which led investigators to suspect that he was taking bribes in exchange for manipulating the share prices of certain companies.
In November, prosecutors launched several raids as part of their probe into the case. Yu Nai-wen, Tarng, Chiu Yu-yuan, Chiu Ming-chiang and Liu have been detained since December.
Yu Nai-wen was removed from his post on Sept. 18, when the Department of Civil Service Ethics ordered an investigation into his investment practices.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS