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
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS