7 found guilty of helping convicted tycoon flee Taiwan

Taipei, Sept. 16 (CNA) The Taipei District Court on Monday found seven people guilty of helping a funeral business tycoon flee Taiwan after the convicted businessman jumped bail of NT$517 million (US$16.22 million) while awaiting a Supreme Court verdict in September 2023.

The case involves Chu Guo-rong (朱國榮), president of Global Funeral Service Corp. Ltd., who appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court after being sentenced to eight years in prison for stock speculation in 2018 and 16 years in 2019 for insider trading and other violations of the Securities and Exchange Act, according to High Court rulings.

Chu, who was out on bail, was required to report in person to the Sanzhangli Police Station in Taipei's Xinyi District every day before 7 p.m. He was listed as a wanted fugitive on Sept. 28, 2023, after reporting to the station a last time on Sept. 7.

The seven convicted were among 10 indicted by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office in May. The three people found not guilty were the mother and brother of Chu's girlfriend, Chen Wan-hsuan (陳宛瑄), and Chu's secretary, surnamed Tseng (曾), according to the ruling.

George Chou (周哲男), who runs a yacht charter business and purchased a yacht for Chu, was sentenced to 14 months in prison for crimes under the Immigration Act. Chou was found to have driven the tycoon on Sept. 7, 2023, to Tainan, where Chu boarded the yacht Chou purchased and traveled to the Philippines.

The captain of the yacht, Chung Ming-hua (鍾明華), who took Chu to the Philippines, was sentenced to one year in prison, while his two sons, who were working as crew members when Chu traveled to the Philippines, each received a 10-month prison term, according to the district court's ruling.

The district court also handed down a 10-month prison sentence to Chen's father, who pretended to be Chu when applying for a Vanuatu passport in Hong Kong, according to the ruling.

Diamond dealer Lin Yu-fen (林郁芬) and her American husband, Benjamin Michael Schwall, were sentenced to six months in prison, or a fine, for helping arrange air tickets for Chu and his girlfriend to fly to Israel and then Moscow. Chu's current whereabouts remain unknown.

The verdicts can be appealed.