Judicial investigators are searching for former Taiyen Biotech Co (台鹽生技) chairman Chen Chi-yu (陳啟昱), who allegedly went into hiding, and said they would today issue a wanted bulletin for his arrest, for alleged corruption and fraud together with four other suspects.
After being questioned and released on Oct. 24, the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday summoned Chen for more questions, but he could not be found at his residence in Kaohsiung City’s Chishan District (旗山).
Prosecutors are also investigating four other executives in connection to the case, which involves alleged illegal profits of about NT$1.1 billion relating to Taiyen Green Energy Co (台鹽綠能), which is a subsidiary of Taiyen Biotech Co.
Photo courtesy of Taiyen Biotech
After questioning the executives on Oct. 23, prosecutors requested that they be detained for suspected breaches of the Criminal Code and the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法), including for alleged fraud, breach of trust and publishing an official document containing false information.
Prosecutors alleged that Chen and other executives released fraudulent revenue reports and falsified documents in collusion with other firms to secure tenders for solar power farm projects and related construction work in southern Taiwan.
In a bail hearing on Oct. 24, former Taiyen Green Energy general manager Su Kun-huang (蘇坤煌) and Great Glow Technology Co (鴻暉國際) chairman Su Chun-jen (蘇俊仁) were placed in judicial detention with restricted communication, while Chen, former Taiyen Green Energy general manager Kuo Cheng-wei (郭政瑋) and Chao Yang Development Co (晁暘開發) owner Tai Yu-ching (戴妤倩) were released, with the Tainan District Court citing lack of evidence for their alleged involvement in the case.
Chen is a former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator, who was first elected in 2004. He resigned during his second term in 2010 to take up office as deputy Kaohsiung mayor.
He was later appointed as chairman of Taiyen Biotech Co, which had just been privatized from state monopoly Taiwan Salt Works Co (台鹽實業).
Chen left the DPP in April last year after reports emerged that he built an illegal structure on his farmland.
Additional reporting by Huang Chia-lin
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