Four people suspected of aggravated fraud and abusing public power for personal profit in a controversial egg import case were released on bail early yesterday morning, but were barred from leaving the country.
Chin Yu-chiao (秦語喬), head of Ultra Source (超思有限公司); Lin I-lung (林宜龍), head of Brilliance Biotechnology Ltd (亮采生物科技有限公司); Wu Chun-ta (吳俊達), then a specialist at the government-funded National Animal Industry Foundation; and Lin Chang-hsien (林昌憲), an employee at Brilliance Biotechnology, were released on bail of NT$2 million (US$62,814), NT$1 million, NT$500,000 and NT$300,000 respectively.
Four other suspects — then-foundation chief executive officer and Ministry of Agriculture official Chen Chung-hsing (陳中興), then-foundation supervisor Kung Jung-tai (龔榮太), Brilliance Biotechnology executive Wang Chao-hui (王朝輝) and a man surnamed Pang (龐) — were questioned, but released without bail.
Photo: CNA
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office raided 14 locations and summoned the eight suspects and three other witnesses for questioning on Tuesday night.
Another person closely tied to the case, Wu Yu-fei (吳諭非), was summoned for questioning, but did not show up. She is in Japan.
The case sparked controversy in 2022 and last year, because the companies involved in importing the eggs were not well-established in the field or seemingly in a position to handle large-volume imports, giving rise to allegations of corruption.
The foundation — a government watchdog — was entrusted in 2022 by the agriculture ministry with the urgent task of procuring eggs to deal with a shortage at the time, reports by the Control Yuan said.
The foundation contracted Brilliance Biotechnology to import eggs from Japan from March to May 2022. It also bought more than 25 million eggs from Ultra Source between August and November 2022 that the company had stocked after importing them from Japan, the reports said.
The foundation originally commissioned Wu Yu-fei, a food company representative and person familiar with trade with Japan, to coordinate the egg imports, and Wu specified Brilliance Biotechnology as the importer for the initial deal.
However, Chin, who is Wu Yu-fei’s mother, set up Ultra Source to handle sales of the eggs imported from Japan while Wu Yu-fei was collaborating with the foundation.
The Control Yuan said the foundation purchased the eggs from Ultra Source before the company was even registered.
It also accused the foundation of failing to check the quality and quantity of the eggs imported from Japan upon delivery, only filling out contract performance documents after the fact.
As for the unusually high prices of the imported eggs, the Control Yuan said the prices reported by Brilliance Biotechnology were about twice the cost of the eggs declared at customs.
In addition, the foundation made the purchase directly after only confirming the price over the telephone, without negotiations or setting a price range for the purchase, the Control Yuan said, adding that it has reported this to prosecutors.
Prosecutors provided few details related to the actual transactions and the specific actions that led to their suspicions of fraud.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS