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Tycoon not allowed to leave Taiwan

Tycoon not allowed to leave Taiwan

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Taiwan High Court on Tuesday slapped down a request by former media tycoon Gary Wang to have a ban on leaving the country lifted.
The founder of the Eastern Multimedia Group spent several stints in prison in connection with a ream of scandals surrounding his family and the China Rebar Group formed by his late father, Wang You-theng.
The court motivated its refusal Tuesday by pointing at an insider trading case involving him still being discussed by the Supreme Court. If Wang left the country, he might choose not to return for further court hearings or stay overseas if the verdict was negative, the judges said.
The tycoon said that he had faithfully attended each of the court sessions about the insider trading allegations, and that his eventual possession of overseas real estate and assets had no bearing on whether or not he might flee the country.
Nevertheless, in the end, the High Court still decided that the ban on Wang leaving the country or venturing out to sea should be maintained. An appeal was still possible, reports said.
The Wang’s family empire once covered banks, construction, hotels, department stores and television stations, but came crashing down as Wang You-theng fled the country at the end of 2006.
Following years in the United States, he eventually died in a traffic accident in California last May without ever having had to face a Taiwanese court.
Most of his sons and daughters, including Gary Wang, did spend prison time on the island in connection with a series of financial scandals.