Ten people who allegedly helped a fugitive businessman flee to the Philippines in September last year have been indicted on suspicion of contravening the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday.
Global Funeral Service Corp president Chu Guo-rong (朱國榮), who was sentenced to 24 years in jail for insider trading and stock manipulation, fled the country while on bail as he appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court.
Under his bail arrangement, Chu was required to report in person to the Sanzhangli Police Station in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) every day before 7pm.
Photo: Taipei Times
After failing to report following his last visit on Sept. 7 last year, he was on Sept. 23 listed as a wanted fugitive. The Supreme Court issued a warrant for his arrest and canceled his NT$517 million (US$16.06 million) bail bond.
The 10 indicted include Chu’s business partner, George Chou (周哲男), a yacht charter operator; the captain and two crew members of a yacht; and three relatives of Chu’s girlfriend, who traveled to the Philippines with him, Taipei prosecutors said.
Chu’s secretary, surnamed Tseng (曾), and a couple who sell jewelry were also indicted, the prosecutors said.
Taipei prosecutors said they believed Chu fled because he assumed he was likely to receive a harsh final sentence and was unwilling to go to jail.
Chu knew Vanuatu passport holders were eligible for visa-free travel to British Commonwealth nations and Russia, among others, the prosecutors said.
With that in mind, he conspired with his girlfriend, surnamed Chen (陳), and her family to have Chen’s father pretend to be Chu and go to Hong Kong to apply for a Vanuatu passport, prosecutors said.
Chu purchased an Italian yacht in his company’s name, and on Sept. 7 last year, the captain and two crew members sailed it from Keelung’s Badouzi Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) to the Port of Anping (安平港) in Tainan.
After Chu reported to the police station, Chou drove him and others to Anping, before smuggling them to Laoag, Philippines, where Chu entered with the Vanuatu passport, prosecutors said.
Chu and his girlfriend then traveled to Vanuatu with the jewelry dealer surnamed Lin (林) and her foreign spouse, surnamed Hsia (夏), whom Chu had met when he was involved in the jewelry trade.
Lin and Hsia returned to Taiwan, with Hsia helping arrange the airfare for Chu and his girlfriend to fly to Israel and then Moscow. Chu’s whereabouts are unknown.
With Chu and Chen on the run, Chen’s mother and younger brother have cared for Chu and Chen’s son in Taiwan, while also paying expenses Chen had racked up on her credit card overseas, prosecutors said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS