Kaohsiung prosecutors yesterday said former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Wu Der-mei (吳德美) failed to report to prosecutors on Friday to start her eight-and-a-half-year prison term.
Chung Chung-hsiao (鍾忠孝), spokesman for the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office, told reporters that Wu should have appeared at the district prosecutors’ office at 3pm on Friday, but that her son, accompanied by lawyers, had paid the office a visit on Friday morning to apply for a delay to Wu’s prison time, claiming that Wu suffered a bone fracture and was in no condition to be jailed.
Wu was confined to a wheelchair, Chung quoted Wu’s son as saying.
Chung said that while prosecutors were considering the application, they remained alert to the possibility that she might attempt to escape.
Wu received her final sentence earlier this year for embezzling about NT$2 billion (US$58.8 million) from her company, An Feng Group.
Wu’s husband, former An Feng Group president and Kaohsiung City councilor Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄), is on the wanted list.
Chu was convicted on charges of vote-buying in September 2003 and sentenced to 22 months in jail. He was also a suspect in several other scandals, including the embezzlement case involving his wife.
Chu fled to China before he was to begin his jail term in October 2003, despite efforts by law officials to monitor him.
Chu was a former KMT member and later withdrew from the party.
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
STAY VIGILANT: When experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, such as dizziness or fatigue, near a water heater, open windows and doors to ventilate the area Rooftop flue water heaters should only be installed outdoors or in properly ventilated areas to prevent toxic gas from building up, the Yilan County Fire Department said, after a man in Taipei died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Monday last week. The 39-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), an assistant professor at Providence University in Taichung, was at his Taipei home for the holidays when the incident occurred, news reports said. He was taking a shower in the bathroom of a rooftop addition when carbon monoxide — a poisonous byproduct of combustion — leaked from a water heater installed in a poorly ventilated
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