Driver involved in crypto analyst's death indicted; no conspiracy found

Taipei, Dec. 16 (CNA) A man whose vehicle rammed into a car carrying a cryptocurrency analyst on Freeway No. 1 earlier this month, resulting in her death, was indicted on charges of negligent homicide and negligence resulting in injury by prosecutors Monday.

The indictment was handed down after prosecutors completed a 12-day investigation into the death of the analyst, Chen Mei-hui (陳梅慧), which some in the media considered suspicious because of her inside knowledge of crypto cases and the case's circumstances.

At a press event Monday, prosecutors said the driver, identified by his last name Hsu (徐), was driving an SUV when he rear-ended an Uber taxi carrying Chen and her boyfriend, surnamed Hsieh (謝), on a section of the freeway in Hsinchu County on Dec. 4.

Due to an earlier pileup, Chen's taxi was idling in a traffic jam on the freeway's inside northbound lane at the 77-kilometer mark when Hsu's vehicle suddenly smashed into them from from behind, Hsinchu District Prosecutors Office spokesperson Huang Chen-lun (黃振倫) said.

Chen died at around 3 a.m. after being rushed to the hospital, while Hsieh, who works at the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), was hospitalized for injuries.

Chen, who had worked as the chief financial fraud investigator at the XREX crypto exchange, along with Hsieh and three others had been summoned for questioning by prosecutors in Taichung on Dec. 3 over alleged information leaks.

After the questioning, Chen was freed without bail, while Hsieh was released on bail of NT$30,000 (US$926). The three others were also freed without the need for bail.

Various media reports later speculated that Chen was killed in a planned car "accident" to silence her as she had a lot of information about several of the cases.

The reports also questioned why there was no memory card in Hsu's onboard dashcam so that footage leading to the accident could be retrieved.

During the press conference, Huang said Hsu later admitted to having forgotten to reinsert a memory card in his dashcam after he took it out in November to support an insurance claim related to a traffic dispute.

According to Huang, however, police were able to retrieve video footage from other nearby drivers who witnessed the incident.

Prosecutors also ruled out foul play because the pileup was caused by another accident in front, which resulted in a 2-km long bottleneck on the freeway, he said.

Hsu failed to notice that vehicles on the inside lane of the freeway had come to a halt while driving at a speed of about 106-108 km per hour, Huang said.

Citing Hsu's statement, Huang said Hsu was in a rush that day and that he did not get a good look at what was happening in front of him because he was coming around a bend, resulting in him braking late and hitting the car in front of him.

The fact that the two accidents occurred 25 minutes apart and that cars were constantly changing lanes led police to believe that the collision could not have been staged, Huang said.

Responding to another rumor that Chen had been drugged prior to getting into the Uber taxi, Huang said that following a forensic examination, no alcohol or narcotics were found present in her system.