The Supreme Court Prosecutors Office's Special Investigation Section (SIS) is investigating whether an employee of the Ever Fortune Industrial Co stole NT$220 million (US$ 7 million) from the government in the Taoyuan International Airport build-operate-transfer (BOT) MRT project.
"While investigating the Taoyuan International Airport's MRT BOT project, we found somebody had pocketed a huge amount of money and this money was stolen from the government," SIS spokesman Chen Yun-nan (
Prosecutors on Thursday led raids on Ever Fortune Industrial Co's headquarters and offices. They also summoned 16 people, including Ever Fortune employees and officials of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
All were released after questioning except Ever Fortune general manager Kuo Cheng-chuan (郭政權).
National Taiwan University law professor Tsai Mao-yin (
Prosecutors listed Kuo, Tsai and employee Wu Shao-hsing (吳紹興) as defendants in the case and banned them from leaving the country.
The company won the bid for the BOT project in 1998 in which it paid a total deposit of NT$1 billion.
However, the ministry dismissed the contract with the company on Dec. 31, 2002, because the company did not have sufficient assets to carry it out. The NT$1 billion deposit was not returned to the company.
When the company appealed, Tsai told Kuo that he could help, prosecutors allege. Tsai then allegedly established a company called "Chung-jung" to launder money.
In the end the ministry returned NT$900 million plus some NT$70 million in interest to Ever Fortune.
Ever Fortune then paid NT$220 million to "Chung-jung" but the money was immediately withdrawn and prosecutors are now investigating the case.
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS