Airlux raided on share trading irregularities

Those whose offices and residences were raided were identified as Chairman Zhou Wu-hsien of Airlux, the firm's President Zhou Cheng-kuan, and Chang Shih-chieh, a famous stock investor nicknamed “Antique Chang.”

Prosecutors and investigators are expected to soon question Chang for his alleged role in the Airlux share price manipulation case. They will also move to have the two Zhous return to Taiwan from abroad and question them over the scandal.

The two Zhous allegedly collaborated with Chang to manipulate the listed price of Airlux to seek windfall profits via surrogate trading accounts from June 22 to Aug. 23.

During the two-month period, the listed price of Airlux shot up 793.22 percent to a high of NT$263.5 per share from a low of NT$29.5.

After scoring windfall profits, the Airlux chairman and president reportedly concealed their assets and thus failed to submit the firm's financial projections for the year as required, violating the rule that all publicly traded firms must do so in Taiwan.

As a result, the GreTai, where local OTC stocks are traded, announced on Aug. 26 that Airlux could be traded only on a block settlement basis.

On Aug. 27, upon seeing Airlux fail to rectify the situation, GreTai announced that trading of the firm's shares would be suspended starting Aug. 31, a move that shocked investors.

Despite the trading suspension of Airlux's shares, the firm's chairman and president are still subject to investigations concerning their alleged violation of the Securities Trading Act and alleged money laundering seen after scoring the windfall profits from speculative share transactions, according to market observers.

Airlux, founded in 1976 in Taoyuan County, northern Taiwan, is an ISO 9001/9002-certified electrical appliances company, and has been a publicly listed company in Taiwan since May 2000.

The firm is engaged in the development and production of motor-driven electrical appliances such as table blenders, food processors, hand blenders, stand mixers, meat grinders, and water welders.

Headquartered in Taiwan, the firm operates a manufacturing site in Shenzhen, China, and conducts its marketing and export operations in Hong Kong.

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