Ex-Styrene head charged with embezzlement released on bail

Chang had been detained earlier that day after failing to post bail as of Sunday noon, along with three other people, said the Taipei Prosecutors Office.

Chang, who is also a former vice minister of economic affairs, and his successor at the company, Liu Cheng-yuan, are suspected of having committed fraud and to have embezzled money from the company while in office, said the Taipei District Prosecutors Office.

Prosecutors said the two former chairmen, along with three company officials — former vice general manager of finance, Su Jia-ping, Su's successor Chen Ming-te and the head of a stock investment group, Sun Tieh-han — are suspected of violating the Securities and Exchange Act and were later held incommunicado.

The prosecutors said Chang and Liu allegedly doctored the company's financial reports to inflate revenue figures and bought stakes in a resort hotel in Taipei at far above market prices between 2010 and 2011.

All five were requested by the prosecutors to be detained and Chen was the first to post bail.

Liu was expected to be bailed soon by his lawyer, the office said.

The court ruled early Sunday that Chang and Liu be released on NT$10 million (US$345,570) bail each, and that Sun, Chen and Su be released on bail of NT$30 million, NT$2 million and NT$8 million, respectively.

Chang served as vice minister of economic affairs in 1989 and left that position later that year to take up the post of chairman of state-owned Taiwan Power Co., where he worked for eight years until 1997. He later became chairman of Taiwan Styrene.

Meanwhile, Taiwan Styrene released a statement saying that the company has no relationship with Chang, as he left the company in early 2010.

The statement also noted that buying the stakes in the resort hotel, located in the hot spring area of Yangmingshan in suburban Taipei, was a decision approved by the company's board of directors as a move to extend its investments in the tourism industry.

The purchase price was based on the advice of accounting professionals, so the accusation of buying the hotel at far above market prices is untrue, the statement said.

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