Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation (PSC) chairman Frank Huang has been indicted for insider trading and breach of trust following supposed irregularities in the trading of shares of Macronix International Company (MXIC), the company from which PSC later bought a 12-inch wafer fab.
The prosecutors filed charges on July 31 seeking for a jail term of four and a half years plus a fine of NT$60 million (US$1.96 million). Huang was on a business trip in Japan when the charges were made.
PSC company vice president and spokesperson Eric Tang expressed shock over the charges, questioning the fairness and impetus behind the investigation which included the wire-tapping of Huang's phone calls over the past 4-5 years.
The prosecutors allege Huang and his company started buying Macronix shares in late 2005 prior to the announcement that PSC would purchase a 12-inch fab from Macronix in January 2006. The prosecutors claim that Huang and his company had decided to make the fab purchase as early as October 2005.
Tang insisted that the share purchase was purely for investment and had nothing to do with insider trading. He added that the purchased Macronix shares were sold after being held for 1.5 years, which would be illogical if the company intended to make a profit from the deal.
Article translated by Esther Lam
