- Staff writer, with CNA
Two executives of drone supplier Jiin Ming Industry Co have been detained and held incommunicado over the company’s alleged use of prohibited China-made chips and camera lenses in drones supplied under military contracts, the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday.
The prosecutors said in a statement that they raided the offices of Jiin Ming — headquartered in Taoyuan — as well as those of its subsidiaries and its suppliers on Thursday last week.
The raids followed a report that the company allegedly had breached its procurement contracts by putting the prohibited components into drones delivered to the military.
The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office building is pictured in an undated photograph.Photo: Yu Jui-jen, Taipei Times
During the raids, prosecutors summoned Jiin Ming vice chairman and president Chien Hao-ting (簡豪廷), business manager Chen Yang-cheng (陳揚澄), seven other people connected to the case and a witness for questioning. They also seized items as evidence.
After questioning, prosecutors said they suspected Chien and Chen of contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) by knowingly supplying Chinese-made products under military procurement contracts.
The two are also suspected of submitting falsified business records and of aggravated fraud committed by three or more people under the Criminal Code, they said.
Prosecutors said that they considered the two at risk of committing further offenses or interfering with the investigation, and sought their detention.
The Taoyuan District Court cited the case’s national security implications and the possibility that others were involved, and said that Chien, who had given inconsistent statements, might collude with others on testimony or flee.
In Chen’s case, although he denied the allegations during questioning, he was still strongly suspected of involvement in the alleged crimes, prosecutors cited the court as saying.
The alleged number of transactions and the volume of sales between Chen and the military, as detailed in the detention application, suggested a risk of repeat offenses, it said.
The court ordered both men detained for two months from Friday and barred them from receiving visitors or communicating with others. The ruling can be appealed within 10 days of receiving the court documents.
The other suspects were released without bail, prosecutors said.
In a separate statement, Jiin Ming, which is listed on the Taipei Exchange’s over-the-counter market, confirmed Chien’s detention and said chairman Tsai Hsiang-feng (蔡翔峰) had assumed his duties.
The company said its operations were continuing as normal despite the case and that it would cooperate with the investigation.