Political heavyweight turned fugitive arrested

Former head of the Chiayi City Agricultural Association, Hsiao Teng-shih, was arrested with two others at a Chiayi City residence, said prosecutors.

Hsiao, whose wife is the speaker of Chiayi County Council, did not resist when 40 police officers stormed into the residence, said the prosecutors.

The prosecutors said the fugitive's immediate response to the police surprise action was a clam assertion that “I'm Hsiao Teng-shih.”

Wang Chuan-cheng, spokesman of the Chiayi District Prosecutors Office, said Hsiao went to jail and was paroled in July 2005.

But in May 2008 the Taitung District Prosecutors Office put him on a list of wanted criminals in connection with some other cases, Wang said.

The spokesman said Hsiao would be sent to a prison in Taitung to complete his remaining jail term, which is about one year and 10 months, of an original four year and 10 month sentence.

Wang said the authorities had been tipped off about Hsiao's whereabouts.

During the arrest, police also discovered two handguns and 12 bullets in the residence, Wang said.

The fugitive said he had hoped to hide until 2011 and have his prison term commuted, but he was not surprised at being caught, according to the spokesman.

Hsiao's family is at the core of a powerful political camp in Chiayi.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email