The High Court on Wednesday upheld the acquittal of two Chinese nationals accused of laundering funds for a Shanghai-based company.
The judgement backed a ruling in February last year by a district court, which found that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Xiang Xin (向心), who was chief executive officer of Hong Kong-based China Innovation Investment, and his wife, Kung Ching (龔青), a company board member, had colluded with Guotai Investment Holding (Group) Co — which Chinese authorities have accused of wrongdoing — to launder fraudulently obtained funds.
Prosecutors said that Xiang and Kung sold their company to Guotai as part of a conspiracy to put NT$300 million (US$9.38 million) in illegal earnings into bank accounts and properties in Taiwan.
Photo: Taipei Times
The district court had ruled that Xiang appeared to have been unaware of the alleged illegal activities by Guotai in China.
Prosecutors failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove that Xiang had colluded with the Shanghai firm to launder money, it said.
Furthermore, Xiang sold his shares in China Innovation Investment and another company called China Trends Holdings to Guotai at market rates, the district court said.
Xiang and Kung were arrested on Nov. 24, 2019, while attempting to board a flight to Hong Kong on suspicion of spying for China by agents of the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau.
Fang Po-hsun (方伯勳), the couple’s lawyer, urged prosecutors not to appeal the latest verdict.
Xiang and Kung have been prohibited from leaving Taiwan for 1,390 days despite a lack of evidence to show that they had contravened any laws in Taiwan, Fang said.
Despite their acquittals, Xiang and Kung cannot depart Taiwan due to an overseas travel ban, which is set to expire on Sept. 23, Fang said.
The pair were first arrested after William Wang Liqiang (王立強), a self-proclaimed Chinese spy seeking asylum in Australia, accused China Innovation Investment, his former employer, of being in a front organization for Chinese intelligence efforts targeting Taiwan’s elections and democracy advocates in Hong Kong.
The couple were released a few days later, but barred from leaving Taiwan pending further investigation.
Although the spying charges against Xiang and Kung were dropped in November 2021, their overseas travel ban remained in place, as they were still awaiting trial on separate money laundering charges brought by prosecutors in April 2021.
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