The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a guilty verdict by the Taiwan High Court against Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) for insider trading and sentenced him to eight months in prison, bringing to a close a legal battle that lasted for 14 years.
The Ministry of the Interior last night relieved Fu of his duties, effective immediately.
Fu was accused in 2005 of breaching the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) by manipulating the stock price of Hold-Key Electric Wire & Cable Co Ltd (合機電線電纜) through insider trading.
Photo: Wang Chun-chi, Taipei Times
Fu, then a People First Party legistlator, was approached by Hold-Key general manager Yang Kai-ti (楊愷悌) and deputy general manager Yu Su-yuan (余素緣), who offered him 20 million company shares at NT$15 per share, the Supreme Court ruling said.
Hold-Key had just won a bid to build an electric supply system for state-run Taiwan Power Co (台電), and Yang and Yu saw it as an opportunity to boost the company’s stock price, it said.
Fu brought in friends and stock market analyst Chang Shih-chieh (張世傑), who convinced people that the stock was a good investment, the ruling said.
The Hold-Key stock price soared from NT$15 per share in October 2003 to NT$47 per share in January 2004, earning Fu and the others a total of NT$96 million (US$3.11 million at the current exchange rate) in illicit gains, it added.
Fu was originally sentenced to one year and four months in prison by the second appellate court, but his jail term was reduced to eight months, as the case was eligible for a sentence reduction according to the Criminal Speedy Trial Act (刑事妥速審判法), yesterday’s ruling said.
The Hualien County District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said it had received a notice from the Supreme Court to impose travel restrictions on Fu and had instructed harbor and airport authorities to deny Fu passage should he try to leave the nation.
Ministry of the Interior Department of Civil Affairs Director Lin Ching-chi (林清淇) said that Fu had been dismissed as county commissioner per Article 79 of the Local Government Act (地方制度法).
The Executive Yuan would be notified of the need to appoint an acting commissioner, as the regulations stipulate that the deputy commissioner is to be relieved of their duties as well, Lin said.
Given the timing of the Supreme Court’s announcement, the dismissal paperwork would take some time, Lin added.
While the ministry holds the right to nominate a replacement, the Executive Yuan holds the deciding vote, Lin said.
Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said the ministry had yet to nominate anyone for acting commissioner.
“The ministry must receive the court ruling before we can have the Executive Yuan approve any candidates,” Hsu said.
The acting commissioner would serve until Dec. 25 when the winner of the Nov. 24 Hualien commissioner race would assume office, Lin said.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS