A former senior official in the Ministry of Labor has manipulated the share price of select stocks to help PJ Asset Management Co (寶佳資產管理) earn more than NT$500 million (US$16.66 million) in profit, the Taipei District Court said on Friday as it sentenced him to nine years in jail.
The court said Yu Nai-wen (游迺文), a former head of the domestic investment division in the ministry’s Bureau of Labor Funds, manipulated the share price of Far Eastern Department Co to benefit PJ Asset Management, and in turned used the investment firm’s economic and political influence to help him get a promotion.
The court said Yu’s behavior seriously failed to live up to the standards of public office, as they breached the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
The court also suspended his civil rights for five years.
Starting in July 2020, Yu colluded with JP Asset Management investment executive Chiu Yu-yuan (邱裕元) by instructing Fuh Hwa Securities Investment Trust Co (復華投信) and Uni-President Assets Management Corp (統一投信) to use labor funds to buy shares of the department store chain shares, the court said.
Taking advantage of a rise in the firm’s share price, JP Asset Management sold its stake, pocketing about NT$539 million in profit, it said.
The court said that the share price rose to NT$24.95 on Nov. 27, 2020, from a closing price of NT$18.15 on June 19, 2019, up 37.37 percent, compared with a 6.25 percent increase in the retail sector on the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s main board and a 28.69 percent TAIEX increase.
Citing correspondence between Yu and Chiu on the Line messenger app as evidence, the court said the former ministry official attempted to use JP Asset Management’s influence to help him climb the career ladder in the labor funds bureau.
The court also sentenced Chiu to eight years in jail and suspended his civil rights for four years, while PJ Asset Management CEO Daniel Tarng (唐楚烈), who worked with Chiu to manipulate the department store chain’s share price, was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Fuh Hwa chief investment officer Chiu Ming-chiang (邱明強), fund manager Liu Chien-hsien (劉建賢) and analyst Chen Chou-lun (陳周倫) were sentenced to four years, three years and eight months, and 10 months in jail respectively.
Uni-President Assets Management senior vice president Chueh Chih-chang (闕志昌) and fund manager Sun Min-cheng (孫民承) were each sentenced to three years and eight months in jail, while fund manager Kuo Shih-ching (郭士慶) and analyst Yu Chien-yeh (俞建業) received jail sentences of three years and four months, and eight months respectively.
The two other defendants in the case, Capital Investment Trust Corp vice president Hsieh Chih-ying (謝志英) and analyst Tang Ming-chen (湯明真), were found not guilty.
The court said it has ordered the seizure of NT$539 million in illegal profits made by PJ Asset Management.
The ruling can be appealed.
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