Hon Hai ex-manager detained

[BalanceOfPower]

Hon Hai ex-manager detained

Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2014-01-22 02:49 PM

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Taipei District Court approved a prosecutors’ request to detain former Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. Senior Vice CEO Liao Wan-cheng Wednesday over his alleged involvement in a kickback scheme.

Top officials at the giant electronics group’s Surface Mount Technology Committee were suspected of having demanded bribes from suppliers over a long period of time, with media reports putting the funds involved at a total of more than NT$100 million (US$3.3 million).

Liao, who failed to appear for a first day of questioning Tuesday, was strongly suspected of breach of trust under the Securities Exchange Act, prosecutors said. They wanted him detained because there was a risk he might escape or collude with other suspects.

Early Wednesday morning, the Taipei District Court approved the detention of middleman Hau Hsu-kuang, reportedly because his wife, child and money were all in China, making it more likely he would try to escape, reports said.

However, the court allowed former SMT Committee manager Teng Chih-hsien out on bail of NT$3 million (US$99,000), rejecting a request from prosecutors to detain him. He was barred from moving house, traveling overseas or venturing out to sea, and prosecutors said they would consider whether or not to appeal against the bail decision. Teng was first arrested in China, where Hon Hai runs massive operations under the name Foxconn Technology, and then extradited to Taiwan.

A former manager on Hon Hai’s Apple iPad production line, Chen Chih-chuan, was freed on bail of NT$1 million (US$33,000) and SMT engineering manager Yu Chi-an for NT$2 million (US$66,000).

The SMT Committee handles several key functions inside Hon Hai, including the procurement of machinery worth millions of New Taiwan dollars, reports said.

Company Chairman Terry Gou was informed about the alleged scandal more than a year ago and ordered a thorough investigation as well as the intervention of prosecutors, reports said, adding that Hon Hai was also suing several of the suspects.