The Yulon Luxgen Dinos’ Ko Min-hao (柯旻豪) was put in pretrial detention yesterday, and he is facing criminal charges along with other Yulon players and the team’s coaching staff, with prosecutors saying there is sufficient evidence indicating that they have been involved in betting and game-fixing.
After raids on Friday and the questioning of suspects at the Taipei Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office, individuals including several Yulon players were released on bail yesterday, while Ko became the first suspect to be detained in the investigation.
Ko and the Yulon Luxgen Dinos won the Super Basketball League (SBL) championship this year.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Leading the Dinos to their sixth SBL title in franchise history, Ko became the MVP of the season, while Senegalese center Sarr Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba was picked as the MVP of the championship finals.
In yesterday’s hearing, several Yulon players including Wu Yu-jen (吳祐任) and Chou Wei-chen (周暐宸) were granted bail of NT$300,000, while Bamba and Lee Chi-en (李其恩) were granted bail of NT$100,000.
Chiu Ta-tsung (邱大宗), the Dinos’ head coach for the past three seasons, who has become the P.League+ Kaohsiung Steelers’ new coach, was released without bail, along with current Dinos head coach Lee Chi-yi (李啟億) and a team medical staff member Wei Chia-wei (魏嘉葦).
Prosecutors broadened the probe after questioning former Dinos player Wu Chi-ying (吳季穎) last month about betting on SBL games and allegedly colluding with other players to fix games.
Wu Chi-ying was released earlier on bail of NT$250,000, while being listed as a suspect for offenses of fraud, illegal gambling and breaches of the Sports Lottery Issuance Act (運動彩券發行條例).
The players and coaches, who were more recently questioned, are facing similar charges as those against Wu Chi-ying.
The court yesterday granted NT$150,000 bail to former Yulon assistant coach Chiu Chi-wei (邱繼緯). Wu Chi-ying’s ex-girlfriend Huang Pin-hsuan (黃品瑄) was also granted NT$100,000 bail, while two other friends of his who allegedly helped him place bets were granted NT$60,000 and NT$30,000 bail.
Investigators said that evidence indicates many players — along with coaches, unlicensed bookmakers and others — were involved in betting on SBL games, adding that Chiu Chi-wei was suspected of being the main link to bookmakers, as he allegedly collected bets from players.
There has been speculation in the past few days that the vehicle and textile conglomerate Yulon Group might fold the Yulon Luxgen Dinos, a move that could lead to the collapse of the semi-professional SBL operated by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA).
The club released a statement yesterday saying that it would dismiss all people involved with illegal betting, but would continue its operations.
Additional reporting by Lin Yue-fu
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
The Taipei District Court today ruled to extend the incommunicado detention of former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) for two more months as part of an ongoing corruption trial. Codefendants in the case — real-estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and Ko's former mayoral office head Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗) — were granted bail of NT$100 million (US$3.4 million) and NT$20 million respectively. Sheen and Lee would also be barred from leaving the country for eight months and prohibited from contact with, harassing, threatening or inquiring after the case with codefendants or witnesses. The two would also be
RSS