Baseball club Rakuten Monkeys’ former general manager Pu Wei-ching (浦韋青), four cheerleaders and agent Stanley Chen (陳元凱) were listed as suspects in an investigation into alleged tax evasion by falsifying documents when undertaking outside work in the past three years.
Taoyuan prosecutors and Ministry of Justice Agency Against Corruption (AAC) personnel carried out raids at 12 locations on Tuesday.
Pu was yesterday released on bail of NT$500,000 (US$15,974). He and Chen are reportedly central figures in the case.
Photo: Taipei Times
Prosecutors requested Chen’s arrest after questioning, while all four Rakuten Girls — Lin Meng-jie (林孟潔); Nina Lin (林穎樂); Lee Ting-yu (李庭瑀), also known as “Fei Fei” (菲菲); and Chen Yi (陳伊) — who had been questioned were released without bail.
The investigation, which is the first one in the nation where financial improprieties embroiling cheerleaders are probed, shocked the domestic sports community.
Three others, surnamed Huang (黃), Chang (張) and Lin (林), were listed as suspects. They were reportedly employees of Stanley Chen’s agency and allegedly made agreements with the four cheerleaders to represent them for work other than their regular job at Rakuten Monkeys baseball games in Taoyuan.
Pu and Stanley Chen allegedly made deals for the cheerleaders to participate at events, and on television and online media shows without authorization of club executives, while falsely reporting payments and pocketing some of the cheerleaders’ appearance fees, prosecutors said.
The duo and other suspects are facing charges of breach of trust and tax evasion by breaching the Tax Collection Act (稅捐稽徵法), prosecutors said, adding that as more than NT$10 million has been allegedly pocketed since 2020 and the case has embroiled some government agencies, the AAC is involved in the investigation.
In Rakuten Girls’ contracts it is clearly stipulated that when cheerleaders take outside work, they are prohibited from using the club’s name, dressing in its official cheerleader uniform and displaying club’s name and logo.
The Rakuten Monkeys franchise was founded as La New Bears in 2004 and was mostly run by the owner’s son, Liu Jie-ting (劉玠廷), the general manager, who hired hired his friend, Pu, to manage the business section. The club was later renamed Lamigo Monkeys.
Despite building a dynasty that won six CBPL titles in the 2010s, the Liu family in 2019 sold the franchise to Japan’s communications, financial services and digital media giant Rakuten Group, which renamed the club Rakuten Monkeys.
After Rakuten’s takeover, Pu was demoted to deputy manager, mainly focusing on Rakuten Girls’ management.
Rakuten Group found discrepancies in accounting records relating to Rakuten Girls, and gathered material for more than a year, then filed a complaint in October last year, requesting an investigation by the authorities, according to news reports.
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