The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the final appeals by Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘), former president Chen Shui- bian’s (陳水扁) son-in-law, and his father, Chao Yu-chu (趙玉柱), in a drawn-out insider trading case, resulting in the plaintiffs having to start serving earlier jail sentences.
The final ruling came after the case’s fifth retrial, following years of litigation over the trading of shares of real-estate developer Taiwan Land Development Corp (TLDC, 台灣土地開發) in 2005.
The court upheld a ruling by the High Court from October last year that found the two plaintiffs guilty of breaching the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法).
Chao Chien-ming was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison, while his father received a four-year jail term.
After Thursday’s ruling, prosecutors said the two would have to report to the Taichung District Prosecutors' Office by Oct 26 to start serving their terms.
The ruling ends years of litigation in which courts tried to determine the amount the two had pocketed illegally.
The two have been found guilty in all of the case’s previous trials, with courts handing down jail terms of different lengths.
The Supreme Court said that its final ruling took into account evidence and arguments presented in the earlier trials, and rejected the appeals because the plaintiffs in the latest round of testimonies did not provide insights into the case that would have justified overturning the High Court verdict.
Chao Yu-chu in 2005 bought TLDC shares after the firm’s then-chairman, Su Te-chien (蘇德建), provided him, his son and others with confidential information on the approval of a syndicated loan to the company.
Court documents showed that he bought the shares a few days after the meeting, but before the approval was reported, resulting in shares surging.
The High Court said that Chao Yu-chu illegally gained NT$35.17 million (US$1.25 million at the current exchange rate) from trading TLDC shares.
Chao Chien-ming did not buy any TLDC shares or make illegal gains, but the Supreme Court found him guilty of sharing illicitly obtained information and coordinating insider trading activity with his father and others involved in the scheme.
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