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XPEC tug of war continues through typhoon

XPEC Chairman Aaron Hsu (left).

XPEC tug of war continues through typhoon

XPEC Chairman Aaron Hsu (left).

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – While Typhoon Megi was battering Taiwan, a court decided to maintain bail for beleaguered XPEC Entertainment Inc. Chairman Aaron Hsu, but prosecutors were reportedly planning to launch another appeal Wednesday.
At the core of the XPEC controversy was a decision by Japanese-invested Bai Chi Gan Tou Digital Entertainment Company last month to drop a plan to spend about NT$5 billion (US$159 million) on a stake of 25.17 percent in the gaming developer, the first-ever default on a tender offer settlement in Taiwan. As a result, shares in XPEC fell precipitously, burning many small shareholders.
Last week, prosecutors raided several offices and questioned key executives in the case. They ended up with releasing Hsu on bail of NT$10 million (US$318,900), but prosecutors appealed against the ruling, saying the company chairman was a defendant in a serious case and posed a flight risk.
The appeal led to judges doubling bail for Hsu to NT$20 million instead of keeping him in detention.
Despite the day off for the typhoon Tuesday, a court still convened again to hear a second appeal by prosecutors against bail. The session took from Tuesday evening until the early hours of Wednesday, but the end result was the same, NT$20 million bail.
According to media reports, prosecutors were considering taking the case back to court for another time later Wednesday. They said they could not accept the judges’ opinion that the XPEC chairman was unlikely to flee the country, collude with other defendants or destroy evidence. The businessman had investments in Japan and China, so he could easily escape the country to block the investigation, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office reportedly reasoned.
Hsu’s attorneys argued that he had left the country several times but had always returned, so there was no question of any flight risk. He held no foreign passport and his relatives were all living inside Taiwan, the lawyers argued.