Authorities yesterday questioned the owner, his son and executives of a telecommunications services company at the center of a corruption scandal in Taipei over alleged insider trading.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office questioned Tai Tung Communication Co (台通光電) employees and executives — including its owner, Lee Ching-huang (李慶煌), and his son, Lee Chia-hao (李嘉豪), who was placed in pretrial detention with restricted communication.
The New Taipei City-based firm is the parent company of Taiwan Intelligent Fiber Optic Network Consortium (Taifo, 台灣智慧光網), which investigators last month accused of providing kickbacks to Taipei City Councilor Chen Chung-wen (陳重文) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) related to a city government project to install police surveillance systems and provide networking and data transmission services.
Photo: CNA
Yesterday, Agency Against Corruption units and Taipei prosecutors searched nine Tai Tung offices and employee residences, while serving summonses to executives related to alleged insider trading that led to profits of about NT$100 million (US$3.07 million), prosecutors said.
The agency and prosecutors alleged that Tai Tung, a publicly listed company on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, had announced a stock buyback on March 8, but that Lee Ching-huang, members of his family and some employees had prior knowledge of the deal, enabing them to purchase stock ahead of time.
A bail court hearing approved the pretrial detention of Lee Chia-hao, who holds the title of special assistant to the owner.
Prosecutors listed him as facing possible charges for contravening the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) and requested that he be detained due to the possibility of collusion and tampering with evidence, a bail court hearing filing said.
Lee Ching-huang’s wife, Hsieh Yen-chun (謝燕春), was released on NT$3 million bail, while his ex-wives, surnamed Huang (黃) and Lee (李), were released on bail of NT$3.5 million and NT$2 million respectively. A company executive surnamed Shih (石) was released on NT$500,000 bail, while Lee Ching-huang was released without posting bail.
The Agency Against Corruption said that the investigation into insider trading stemmed from an earlier probe into reported corruption and kickbacks at Taifo, which had secured a NT$550 million contract with the Taipei City Government to supply police surveillance systems and networking and data transmission services.
An investigation found evidence that Chen had questioned officials and allegedly pressured the government to approve a higher budget for the contract with Taifo, whose chairman is Lee Ching-huang.
Investigators said that several million dollars in alleged kickbacks had flowed to accounts controlled by Chen.
The agency and prosecutors on March 14 initiated searches related to that investigation, detaining and questioning Chen and Lee Ching-huang in the process, along with other suspects.
Chen was detained as telephone records indicated he had called witnesses in an attempt to collude with them, while Lee Chiang-huang was released on a NT$3.5 million bill, prosecutors said.
The alleged insider trading activity was found while examining money flows and bank transactions in that case, prosecutors said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS