TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said Tuesday (Oct. 13) it has discovered that several Chinese investors illegally bought a total of NT$130 million (US$4.53 million) shares of Taiwan's Tatung Co. (大同) through a financial institution in Singapore.

During a regular press conference, Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director Kuo Chia-chun (郭佳君) pointed out that multiple Chinese investors have been purchasing shares of Tatung Co. since May of last year in an attempt to influence the company's management. However, she declined to disclose the names of the investors or their background.

According to Kuo, Chinese investors instructed a non-Chinese proxy to open an account at a financial institution in Singapore and begin buying Tatung shares with the estimated NT$2.7 billion (US$94 million) they provided. Over several months, the investors slowly increased their investment until they ended up with a 5.87 percent stake in the Taiwanese home appliance company.

Kuo said the FSC has ordered the Chinese investors to withdraw their investments in the next six months and pay a fine of NT$25 million for violating the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area. She added that their rights as shareholders have been suspended and that they will not be able to vote at the extraordinary shareholders' meeting next Wednesday (Oct. 21), reported CNA.

According to Article 73 of the act, "any individual, juristic person, organization, or other institution of [China], or any company it invests in any third area may not engage in any investment activity in the Taiwan Area" until it receives permission from the relevant authorities.

This was the fourth time Chinese investors have been caught attempting to infiltrate Tatung's management through illegal stock purchases. Since 2016, the FSC has identified three attempts by Chinese businessman Ren Guo-long (任國龍) to buy into the company, one time gaining as much as an 18-percent stake.