Family of 3 sentenced to jail for selling tainted liquid eggs

Taipei, June 29 (CNA) A family of three caught selling tainted liquid eggs have each been sentenced to at least two years in prison for fraud, according to the Taoyuan District Court on Saturday.

The verdict was handed down Friday against Hsiao Cho-fu (蕭卓福), founder of Yuanshan Eggs Co. (元山蛋品有限公司), his wife HsiaoWu Ching-tsen (蕭吳清岑) and their son Hsiao Wen-ho (蕭文河), the court said in a news release.

Yuanshan Eggs was established in 2012 in Taoyuan by Hsiao Cho-fu. His wife was responsible for the finances, the court said.

While the son took over the business in 2015, his parents were still involved in its management, the court added.

Between May 1, 2013 and Aug. 11, 2018 the trio sourced bad-quality eggs from chicken farms in central Taiwan at low prices and sold them in liquid form to local businesses, including bakeries, for higher profits.

Although the Hsiaos did not use eggs that had turned black inside or those with a foul odor, they still ordered employees to turn eggs with broken eggshells, that had become moldy, or were infected by maggots into liquid eggs, the court said.

During the five years, 46 companies were found to have sourced their liquid eggs from the Hsiao's business.

The trio were indicted for alleged fraud under the Criminal Code by the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office in April 2019.

The Taoyuan district said Hsiao Cho-fu was given a 26-month jail sentence, while his son got 28 months and his wife 24 months. An estimated NT$57.65 million (US$1.77 million) in illegal profits was also seized.

The case, the court said, can still be appealed.

(By Yeh Chen and Ko Lin) Endtiem/kb