A former Chunghwa Telecom customer must pay the company NT$17 million (US$55,903) in damages, after he resold 3,525 mobile phones he had purchased through preferential contracts with the telecom, the New Taipei District Court ruled last week.
The verdict in the civil case came after the man, surnamed Lin (林), was previously sentenced to one year and eight months in prison over the scheme.
Lin began illegally reselling the phones in 2016, after he set up a company that he said was conducting research into wireless charging for iPhones, the court said.
Lin, who was the company’s only employee, registered as a business customer with the telecom, and from April 2016 to August 2017 applied for 1,389 phone numbers through preferential subscription packages for business clients, the court said.
Through the subscription contracts, Lin obtained 3,525 cellphones, including iPhone and Samsung Galaxy models, paying below market prices or receiving them for free, it said.
He resold the phones to vendors and wholesale businesses at low prices, the court said.
During the 15 months, he rejected Chunghwa’s requests to visit his company, saying that he had contracts with the government and the military that do not allow its representatives to visit his premises, the court said.
Lin told the company that he could not facilitate its requests because his company has to safeguard trade secrets, it said.
The telecom became suspicious in September 2017, when Lin started to request repeatedly that the fees of his 30-month subscription packages be changed, the court said.
The telecom suspected that Lin was running a scam and reported him to police, while also filing criminal charges and civil lawsuits, it said.
In the civil case, the court ordered Lin to pay damages of NT$17.64 million, which would accrue an annual interest rate of 5 percent if he does not pay the full amount, the court said.
The previous criminal case also implicated a female employee at the telecom, who was last year sentenced to 16 months in prison for colluding with Lin.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
RSS