Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) yesterday accused former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Hsiung Kuang-hua (熊光華) and former Executive Yuan secretary-general Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) of serving as intermediaries for financially troubled Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co.
The shipbuilder has been embroiled in a fraud scandal over a contract that it won from the Ministry of National Defense in October 2014 to build six minesweepers for the military at a cost of NT$34.9 billion (US$1.16 billion at the current exchange rate).
To finance the construction, Ching Fu obtained a syndicated loan of NT$20.5 billion from a group of nine domestic lenders led by First Commercial Bank.
Photo: CNA
However, an investigation initiated by prosecutors in August found that Ching Fu might have used bogus documents to falsify four capital increases that were required as part of the terms of the loan.
The controversy has seen DPP and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers trading barbs over who used their influence to help Ching Fu obtain the syndicated loan, of which NT$15.4 billion had already been disbursed.
Hsiung and Chien served under the administration of then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Wang called for an investigation into Ma and then-vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), now the KMT chairman.
He said that either Ma or Wu must have given the order and prosecutors should summon the two for questioning.
Wang claimed that on Dec. 14, 2015, Hsiung called Chien and then-Bank of Taiwan president Shiau Chang-ruey (蕭長瑞) to the Presidential Office Building for a meeting and instructed the two to apply pressure on banks and other government agencies to facilitate the loan.
Shiau allegedly called a person at the Bank of Taiwan handling loans, after which the bank, which previously said it would not participate in the syndicated loan, announced that it would extend a loan of NT$1billion to Ching Fu.
Wang quoted the person at the bank as allegedly saying: “The president wants it done.”
Hsiung called the allegations “baseless accusations.”
Hsiung said he did meet with Shiau to discuss a petition by the family of former president Yan Chia-kan (嚴家淦) to restore Yan’s official residence, which the bank owns.
Hsiung said that Ministry of Culture Cultural Heritage Bureau Director-General Shy Gwo-lung (施國隆) was present at the discussion.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang and CNA
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
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
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
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