Prosecutors today said they declined to press charges against Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) and others implicated in a dispute with NET Fashion Development Co.
Prosecutors said they declined to pursue charges as ownership of the mall was unclear, the city retained the right to reclaim the asset, there was lack of criminal intent and no evidence of larceny.
In February last year, NET accused Hsieh and other city officials of larceny, damage to private property and other charges, after the company was evicted from the Keelung E-Square Mall by more than 40 officers.
Photo: Lin Chia-tung, Taipei Times
In a statement released at the time, the Keelung City Government said it “retains the mall’s property ownership and therefore constitutes a legal action and not ‘breaking and entering into private property.’”
NET’s lawyers argued that the eviction was an abuse of government authority.
The company said it obtained the rights to operate the mall in 2016 in cooperation with Lucky Parking Co, which previously operated the complex as a parking lot, and invested NT$300 million (US$9.16 million) to convert and renovate the second to fourth floors.
Prosecutors found that the contract between Lucky Parking and the Keelung City Government said that the expanded structures belonged to the city government, arguing that officials were justified in reclaiming their assets after the contract expired.
Furthermore, because NET had lost other civil suits claiming ownership of the mall’s second to fourth floors, Hsieh and city officials did not have reason to believe the structures were still under dispute, prosecutors said.
City officials only took charge of management and equipment of the mall, removing no private property, which was deemed insufficient to press larceny charges, prosecutors added.
On Jan. 24, Net lost a separate civil suit on the question of whether it owned the mall’s renovated floors.
Hsieh remains under investigation for alleged contraventions of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) in two separate cases, one related to a recycling project and the other a scooter subsidy program.
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