The Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) yesterday said it is working with Judicial Yuan officials on ways to monitor and track fugitives, after it was censured by the Control Yuan for letting a convicted funeral business tycoon flee the country via a yacht last year, despite a nearly 30-minute onboard inspection.
Taiwan Global Funeral Service Corp president Chu Guo-rong (朱國榮), who was accused of manipulating the stock of construction company Long Bon International, skipped bail while awaiting a Supreme Court verdict.
He was also accused of insider trading when CTBC Financial Holdings acquired Taiwan Life Insurance in 2015.
Photo: Taipei Times
Chu hid in a yacht at Tainan’s Anping Fishing Harbor when Typhoon Haiku hit Taiwan in September last year, making it difficult to detect him through outdoor surveillance equipment, the Control Yuan said in a written statement.
Although coast guard personnel boarded and inspected the yacht for 27 minutes, they failed to thoroughly search its storage area, kitchen, crew rooms and command deck, nor were they able to capture him before the yacht left the harbor and sailed to the Philippines, it said.
The Coast Guard Administration was censured for serious law enforcement oversight.
Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) told reporters before a legislative session that it was disappointing that coast guard members spent 27 minutes inspecting the yacht, but still failed to capture the fugitive.
The yacht, TopSpeed, was a category A vessel, meaning it did not have any record of criminal or administrative penalties, she said, adding that flexibility is needed when dealing with such vessels in line with regulations.
“The issue here is not whether a comprehensive high-intensity security inspection should be implemented on all sea vessels, a proposition that the public would find hard to accept,” Kuan said. “It is whether we should focus more on monitoring criminals with high flight risks.”
During a liaison meeting with Judicial Yuan and Executive Yuan officials on tackling smuggling, Kuan said she had proposed linking the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) system with those of the law enforcement, prosecutors and courts.
“Before his escape, Chu was said to have reported to the police four hours earlier than usual. Such information could have been relayed instantly if the systems were electronically connected, and a flight-risk alert could have been activated,” she said.
Among the 262 suspects and criminal offenders at large, 227 were involved in economic crimes, she said, adding that she had proposed increasing electronic monitoring.
Implementing a high-intensity security inspection on all outbound sea vessels would be impractical, she said.
“The CGA is currently monitoring 5,299 people who have been prohibited by law to leave the country via sea,” Kuan said. “The CGA has to guard coastal areas in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County. We will ask it to enhance monitoring of high-risk figures instead of enlarging the scope of inspection.”
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