OBI PHARMA:The former president of Academia Sinica angrily denied the charges, saying it had ‘grievously’ harmed his reputation and vowing to defend his innocence
Taipei Times
Date: Jan 10, 2017
By: Huang Chieh and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The Shilin District Court yesterday indicted former Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) on
Former Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey gives a speech at a handover ceremony to his successor on June 21 last year. Wong was indicted yesterday for corruption in a case involving OBI Pharma Inc. Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
corruption charges relating to biotech company OBI Pharma Inc (台灣浩鼎).
Wong denied the charges, accusing the court of abusing its authority.
Wong was appointed president of Academia Sinica in October 2007 and began work on developing cancer vaccine technologies in 2008, the indictment read.
He also started collaborating with OBI Pharma chairman Michael Chang (張念慈) — a friend from the time he was studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — on public research, it said.
In October 2011, Chang offered Wong 1,500 new shares of OBI Pharma in a quid pro quo exchange for technologies developed by Wong, which Wong accepted, prosecutors said.
However, the two later abandoned the scheme in favor of an agreement to exchange the technology for a future payment, after the Ministry of Economic Affairs expressed misgivings about the new shares, prosecutors said. [FULL STORY]
