Late tycoon's heirs ordered to pay damages over Kuo Hua Life bailout

Taipei, Nov. 21 (CNA) The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the children of late businessman Oung Ta-ming (翁大銘), along with two of their uncles, must pay nearly NT$1.3 billion (US$39.62 million) plus interest in damages over the depletion of Kuo Hua Life Insurance Co.'s assets two decade ago.

The civil ruling involved long-defunct Kuo Hua Life Insurance Co., which was taken over by the Financial Supervisory Commission in August 2009 after failing to inject sufficient capital to reverse its negative net worth.

Both Kuo Hua, represented by the Taiwan Insurance Guaranty Fund, and Oung's two children appealed a district court decision upheld by the Taiwan High Court in 2022.

The courts found the two liable as the beneficiaries of Oung, who died in 2015.

The Supreme Court rejected the appeal filed by Oung's two heirs, who were ordered to use their inheritance to pay NT$127.8 million and share their uncles' payments of NT$413.7 million and NT$758 million after their respective appeals were rejected between late 2022 and early 2023.

TransGlobe Life Insurance Inc. won the bid to acquire Kuo Hua's insurance business in 2012.

The Taiwan Insurance Guaranty Fund paid NT$88.37 billion to TransGlobe, which merged with Kuo Hua in 2013.

Kuo Hua was kept as a separate legal entity by the fund to handle litigation involving the company.

The latest ruling is final and cannot be appealed.

A criminal case involving Oung and his three fugitive brothers was closed after the statute of limitations expired in 2015.