Former President Ma Ying-jeou (???) and two other defendants were acquitted Wednesday on charges of breach of trust and irregular transactions in a long-running case related to the selling of three media companies owned by the Kuomintang (KMT) over a decade ago.
In the ruling, Taipei District Court found Ma, Chang Che-chen (???), former chairman of the KMT's Central Investment Co. and Wang Hai-ching (???), former general manager of the company, not guilty of special breach of trust and irregular transactions in the sale of Central Motion Picture Co., China Television Co. and Broadcasting Corp of China from 2005 to 2006, when Ma was KMT chairman.
The court acquitted the three on the grounds that Ma was not a board member or manager of the KMT's Central Investment Co., and therefore not in a position to commit the crimes listed in the charges, while Chang and Wang did not do anything illegal in conducting the transactions.
Prosecutors indicated they are likely to appeal the verdict.
After learning of the verdict, Ma issued a statement thanking the court for clearing his name.
Ma said the three companies were sold to comply with a rule in the Cable Radio and Television Act that political parties must not own media organizations after Dec. 26, 2005.
Ma stressed that he made no money from the deal and the KMT was not adversely impacted by the disposal of the assets, calling the case a political prosecution orchestrated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The now-abolished Special Investigation Division under the Supreme Prosecutors Office closed the case in August 2014 after finding no evidence to support charges brought in 2006 by then ruling DPP Chairman You Si-kun (???), who claimed the KMT illegally sold the three companies.
The Taipei Prosecutors Office reopened the investigation into the case in 2017, a year after the DPP's Tsai Ing-wen (???) became president, based on "new evidence" provided by the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee established by the DPP government and members of the public.
In July 2018, the trio were charged with illegally selling the three companies in violation of the Securities and Exchange Act.
Prosecutors said the deal resulted in a loss of NT$7.2 billion (US$258.64 million) for the KMT.
In the same case, former KMT Deputy Secretary-General Alex Tsai (???), was sentenced on Wednesday to three years and six months behind bars on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust when serving as the chairman of the Central Motion Picture Co.
He was also sentenced to six months for contravening the Business Entity Accounting Act, which is commutable to a fine.
Tsai said he will appeal the case.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel