Two Tainan district prosecutors searched KMT Legislator Liao Hwu-peng's (廖福本) research room in the Legislative Yuan yesterday, alleging that the lawmaker has sold fake shares in Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子).
The prosecutors -- both members of an "anti-black gold" task force recently formed under the Ministry of Justice -- were accompanied by armed police.
Another group of prosecutors searched Liao's apartment at the Ta-an complex, a residential building for legislators, at roughly 4pm yesterday.
Taiwan High Court Prosecutor General Lin Jie-der (
Liao, a six-term legislator from Yulin, has earned the nickname "red envelop Peng" (
To raise capital, Chi Mei has been planning to issue shares in itself since May. Earlier reports said fake stocks in the Tainan-based company have been in circulation.
Tainan district prosecutors are currently investigating the alleged fraud.
According to prosecutors, Liao visited the company with a friend last week to purchase 2,000 shares in the company.
Liao's friend allegedly paid NT$30 million for 1,000 shares in the company, which experts later said were fake.
During the search of Liao's Ta-an apartment, prosecutors seized more than 10,000 stock certificates that officials believe are counterfeit.
However, prosecutors declined to say whether the shares were for Chi Mei stock.
Criticizing the prosecutors' actions yesterday was Wang Jin-pyng (
"The parliament has absolute authority and autonomy, which the judiciary cannot tamper with," Wang said. "Any actions the judicial powers intend to carry out within the confines of the legislature shall have the speaker's permission.
"Thereby, the prosecutors and I have agreed no search should be conducted in the legislator's research room," Wang said.
The speaker's remarks came after he had a closed-door meeting with the two prosecutors searching Liao's research room.
Liao's assistants, who were at the research room and tried to stop the search, said the prosecutors did not show them a search warrant. But they also said the investigators did not take away anything from Liao's research room.
Lin and the two prosecutors, however, said that the search was in accordance with the law and they respected the legislature's autonomy.
Liao, who was in Yulin when the search was carried out yesterday, denied he has sold fake stocks and claimed that he was helping his friend, who had been deceived into buying fake stocks, to track down the con artist.
Liao said the prosecutors will have to conduct a thorough probe and deal with the matter carefully.
Following the incident, Wang said yesterday that head lawmakers from different parties will have a meeting today to address the issues of legislative autonomy and the judiciary's proceedings.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
PETITIONS: A Democratic Progressive Party official quoted President William Lai as saying that civil society groups are organizing the recall drives at the grassroots level Some civil society groups yesterday announced that they have collected enough signatures to pass the first-stage threshold to initiate a recall vote against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators in 18 constituencies nationwide, saying that they would submit the signatures to the Central Election Commission (CEC) today. They also said that they expected to pass the threshold in eight more constituencies in the coming days, meaning the number of KMT legislators facing a recall vote could reach 26. The groups set up stations to collect signatures at local marketplaces and busy commercial districts. The legislators their petition drives target include Fu
RSS