Several bankers were found not guilty last week by the Taiwan High Court on charges of offering bribes to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in relation to a series of bank mergers.
A prosecutor yesterday said they might decide not to appeal the not-guilty verdicts to the Supreme Court, which would result in the cases being dropped.
Chen was sentenced to 18 years in prison by the Taiwan High Court on Thursday for taking bribes from bankers in relation to a series of bank mergers during his eight years in office, fined NT$180 million (US$5.95 million) and stripped of his civil rights for nine years.
His wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), was sentenced to 11 years and fined NT$102 million in the same case and stripped of her civil rights for eight years.
The accused executives, including Yuanta Financial Holding Co founder Rudy Ma (馬志玲), former China Development Financial Holding Corp president Angelo Koo (辜仲瑩), Cathay Financial Holdings Co vice chairman Tsai Chen-yu (蔡鎮宇) and former Mega Financial Holding Co chairman Cheng Sheng-chih (鄭深池) were also found not guilty in the same ruling.
Only two executives were found guilty of helping the former first family to launder money — former Yuanta Financial Holding president Victor Ma (馬維建) who was sentenced to eight months in prison and granted two years probation, while former Yuanta Securities Co board member Tu Li-ping (杜麗萍) was sentenced to two months in prison and two years probation.
Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達), spokesman for the Special Investigation Division (SID) of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, yesterday said that according to the Speedy Criminal Trials Act (刑事妥速審判法), which came into force last year, if defendants are found not guilty in their first and second trials, prosecutors cannot appeal those cases to the Supreme Court unless prosecutors discover the not-guilty rulings are seriously flawed.
The prosecutor said that as the executives were found not guilty in their first and second trails, an appeal to the Supreme Court would likely not be made.
SID prosecutors charged the defendants in December 2009, alleging that the bankers had bribed the former president to pressure the Ministry of Finance to approve mergers during financial reforms promoted by the Chen administration to encourage greater consolidation in the banking sector.
‘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
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated