The Taiwan High Court yesterday sentenced Tatung Co (大同) chairman Lin Wei-shan (林蔚山) to eight years in jail as well as NT$300 million (US$9,900,000) in fines for violating the Securities Exchange Act (證券交易法).
Lin was convicted of embezzling funds from Tatung to pay off a NT$2 billion loan from Nature Worldwide Technology Corp (通達), a female friend’s company in which Lin had invested personally, Taiwan High Court Presiding Judge Tsai Jiung-tuns (蔡炯墩) said.
The court’s decision was more severe than a previous ruling by a lower court two years ago.
On June 29, 2012, the New Taipei City District Court (known as the Banciao District Court at the time) sentenced Lin to four-and-a-half years in prison for misappropriating his company’s assets through investments and fake transactions.
“The heavier sentence this time was because the amount of illegal gain from the embezzlement has exceeded NT$100 million, which was not taken into account in the first trial,” local cable TV network UBN quoted Tsai as saying.
Yesterday, Lin’s female friend, Chou Yun-nan (周雲楠), was also given five years in jail for fraud, heavier than the sentence of four-and-a-half years in prison in the first trial.
Tatung yesterday said in a statement that Lin felt regret about the court’s verdict and would appeal the ruling.
The company, a well-known home appliances household brand, said the High Court’s decision would not affect the company’s operation.
Tatung reported NT$1.12 billion in net profit in the first half of the year, a turnaround from a net loss of NT$1.46 billion in the same period of last year, the company said.
In related news, prosecutors on Tuesday launched a raid on the residences of 10 former Media-Tek Inc (聯發科) employees and searched an office of the Hong Kong-registered company they are working for.
MediaTek chief financial officer David Ku (顧大為) said the company discovered its former employees were involved in stealing business secrets and reported the matter to the Criminal Investigation Bureau.
The theft of trade secrets and the investigation are not expected to impact the company’s operations, he said.
Local media reported that the Hong Kong company, which offered high salaries to lure the workers from MediaTek, may be serving as a bridge between them and China-based Spreadtrum Communications Inc (展訊通信), which is a MediaTek rival in the handset chip business.
A former MediaTek employee surnamed Lu was released on bail of NT$200,000 yesterday after being questioned by prosecutors on Tuesday.
Eight others, including a senior engineer surnamed Cheng, were still being detained for questioning over the alledged trade secret theft investigation, according to the Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office.
Additional reporting by CNA
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