The family of deceased fugitive arms dealer Andrew Wang (汪傳浦) would not face prosecution over kickbacks allegedly received during the procurement of French Mirage jet fighters in 1992, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said on Tuesday.
In a statement, prosecutors said that no charges would be brought against Wang’s wife, Yeh Hsiu-chen (葉秀貞), and their four children after the statute of limitations for initiating legal proceedings expired in September last year.
Wang, who died in London in 2015 at the age of 86, allegedly received US$260 million in kickbacks over the course of the Mirage deal, prosecutors said.
Photo: Taipei Times
The arms dealer initially fled to the UK on Dec. 20, 1993, days after the body of Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓), a navy captain in charge of weapons procurement, was found at sea.
Yin had reportedly been set to blow the whistle on graft and the siphoning off of funds in the procurement of six Lafayette-class frigates from France in 1991.
Wang was charged with Yin’s murder in 2000, but prosecutors dropped the case, as well as related corruption charges after the arms dealer’s death was confirmed by Taiwanese officials based in London in 2015.
Wang’s wife, their sons Wang Jia-hsing (汪家興), Wang Jia-yung (汪家勇) and Wang Jia-ming (汪家明), and their daughter Wang Jun-ling (汪君玲) had been listed since 2018 as wanted for their role in the Mirage deal.
While the five have avoided prosecution in connection with the Mirage deal, freezes on their overseas bank accounts are to remain in place in accordance with regulations, prosecutors said.
Additionally, the five are still wanted for their role in the Lafayette case, prosecutors added.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
RSS