Court officers were unable to bring former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) secretary-general and Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar) chairman Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) in for questioning over a Taisugar land sale scandal dating back to the early 2000s after the Taipei District Court issued a warrant for him yesterday.
Court officers were unable to locate Wu, and his whereabouts are unknown.
Wu, 78, was convicted of breach of trust in connection with a land sale by the Taichung District Court in 2013 and was later ordered in a civil case to pay about NT$170 million (US$5.4 million) in damages to the state-owned company.
Photo: CNA
The court previously requested that the Taipei District Court seize Wu's assets as his household registration is in Taipei.
Wu was convicted of changing Taisugar's "lease-only" policy to allow the sale of state-owned land to Chun Lung Co, a company that supported former DPP lawmaker Hung Chi-chang (洪奇昌).
The court found that the transaction caused losses of more than NT$200 million to the company.
In 2012, Taisugar filed a lawsuit asking Wu to repay NT$120 million in losses relating to the land deal.
Following a retrial, the High Court sentenced Wu to 18 months in prison. On appeal, the sentence was reduced to nine months, which he served in 2014.
In a concurrent civil case, Wu and other defendants were in 2015 ordered to pay NT$110 million in damages.
In 2020, the Taichung District Court issued a final judgement determining that the debt owed to Taisugar with accrued interest came to NT$170 million.
Early last year, Taiwan People's Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) raised the issue in the legislature, asking why no further action had been taken to enforce the court ruling.
Prosecutors in 2024 revealed that the Taichung District Court, which is overseeing enforcement of the judgement, asked the Taipei District Court to assist in seizing Wu's assets. After that, NT$17 million in assets were seized, allowing Taisugar to recover NT$7 million of the outstanding debt.
The Taichung District Court has also requested that the Taipei District Court execute an arrest warrant to compel Wu's appearance at enforcement proceedings.
However, authorities failed to find him in 2024, last year or when visiting his registered address yesterday.
Legal experts said such warrants are a procedural measure used to ensure compliance with court-ordered enforcement, particularly when a debtor is suspected of evading proceedings.
Under the Compulsory Enforcement Act (強制執行法), a court can order a debtor's arrest if the person fails to appear without a legitimate reason or is deemed likely to evade enforcement. However, such arrest warrants are only valid for a limited period.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
RSS