Authorities yesterday questioned the owner, his son and executives of a telecommunications services company at the center of a corruption scandal in Taipei over alleged insider trading.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office questioned Tai Tung Communication Co (台通光電) employees and executives — including its owner, Lee Ching-huang (李慶煌), and his son, Lee Chia-hao (李嘉豪), who was placed in pretrial detention with restricted communication.
The New Taipei City-based firm is the parent company of Taiwan Intelligent Fiber Optic Network Consortium (Taifo, 台灣智慧光網), which investigators last month accused of providing kickbacks to Taipei City Councilor Chen Chung-wen (陳重文) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) related to a city government project to install police surveillance systems and provide networking and data transmission services.
Photo: CNA
Yesterday, Agency Against Corruption units and Taipei prosecutors searched nine Tai Tung offices and employee residences, while serving summonses to executives related to alleged insider trading that led to profits of about NT$100 million (US$3.07 million), prosecutors said.
The agency and prosecutors alleged that Tai Tung, a publicly listed company on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, had announced a stock buyback on March 8, but that Lee Ching-huang, members of his family and some employees had prior knowledge of the deal, enabing them to purchase stock ahead of time.
A bail court hearing approved the pretrial detention of Lee Chia-hao, who holds the title of special assistant to the owner.
Prosecutors listed him as facing possible charges for contravening the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) and requested that he be detained due to the possibility of collusion and tampering with evidence, a bail court hearing filing said.
Lee Ching-huang’s wife, Hsieh Yen-chun (謝燕春), was released on NT$3 million bail, while his ex-wives, surnamed Huang (黃) and Lee (李), were released on bail of NT$3.5 million and NT$2 million respectively. A company executive surnamed Shih (石) was released on NT$500,000 bail, while Lee Ching-huang was released without posting bail.
The Agency Against Corruption said that the investigation into insider trading stemmed from an earlier probe into reported corruption and kickbacks at Taifo, which had secured a NT$550 million contract with the Taipei City Government to supply police surveillance systems and networking and data transmission services.
An investigation found evidence that Chen had questioned officials and allegedly pressured the government to approve a higher budget for the contract with Taifo, whose chairman is Lee Ching-huang.
Investigators said that several million dollars in alleged kickbacks had flowed to accounts controlled by Chen.
The agency and prosecutors on March 14 initiated searches related to that investigation, detaining and questioning Chen and Lee Ching-huang in the process, along with other suspects.
Chen was detained as telephone records indicated he had called witnesses in an attempt to collude with them, while Lee Chiang-huang was released on a NT$3.5 million bill, prosecutors said.
The alleged insider trading activity was found while examining money flows and bank transactions in that case, prosecutors said.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as