KMT lawmaker Liao Hwu-peng (廖福本) was indicted yesterday for allegedly trying to coerce executives to sell fake stocks in the Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子). Prosecutors are demanding he serve seven years in prison if found guilty.
Tainan District Prosecutor Chao Chung-yueh (
According to the Tainan District prosecutor, Liao called Chi Mei Electronics nine times last year and demanded that the company sell him shares at discount prices. But Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp rejected Liao's request.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Liao, 62, a six-term opposition legislator from Yunlin County, said he was innocent.
Liao questioned how the prosecutors could indict him when they had failed to find fake shares during a raid of his apartment, located in the Ta-an Complex, a government-owned residence for legislators, on Aug. 16 last year.
Another search of Liao's office in the Legislative Yuan last year was prohibited by speaker Wang Jing-pyng (
Meanwhile, Taipei District Prosecutor Liu Cheng-wu (
Liu said Liao was found to have changed the date of more than 30 bills illegally.
The total value of the checks is more than NT$300,000. But Liao claimed that his assistant had changed the dates at the request of the Bank of Taiwan.
To avoid accusations of violating legislators' rights, prosecutor Liu said he would question Liao on Feb.19, the eve of the new legislative session, which opens on Feb. 20.
Liao said he is suffering from an injured leg and can't be present at that time.
In addition to these two cases, prosecutors are also investigating whether Liao was involved in insider trading of certain stocks.
Liao said in a press conference yesterday at the Legislative Yuan that his friend had warned him that he might be in trouble after the DPP took power. He did not explain further, but said "now the words of my friend are unfortunately coming true."
Asked whether Liao had been a special target of the Ministry of Justice, justice minister Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) said yesterday that the ministry will do its best to crack down on all illegal activities, but will not get involved in any particular case as long there is sufficient evidence to prove the crime.Chen said government action to crack down on "black gold" would not change from one party or person to another.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
RSS