Gu Zhongliang, chairman of the China Trust Charitable Foundation, was involved in the land purchase case of CITIC Bank's Chengchenghu Building. He was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison for violating the banking law in the first instance. He was restricted from leaving the country and implemented technological surveillance. Gu Zhongliang and the prosecutor filed an appeal, and the case is being heard by the High Court. However, since the surveillance period is about to expire on September 12, the High Court ruled that Gu Zhongliang and his co-defendants Zhang Mingtian and Lin Xiangxi will extend the surveillance and border control for 8 months from September 13. They must take selfies with their mobile phones at their residence from 7 to 11 a.m. every day and send them to the monitoring center. They can protest.
Koo Zhongliang was accused of using the "buy low price, high price" method with Li Shengkai, then assistant manager of the Financial Investment Office of CITIC Bank, to purchase the Chengcheng Lake Building, causing CITIC Bank to suffer a price difference loss of 100 million yuan. The Taipei District Prosecutor's Office violated the regulations in 2019 The Anti-Securities Trading Act prosecuted Ku Zhongliang and others. In May 2025, the Taipei District Court sentenced Ku Zhongliang to seven years and eight months in prison for breach of trust in violation of the Banking Law, and restricted him from leaving the country. Ku Zhongliang has been restricted from leaving the country since then.
Please read on...
The High Court considered that Gu Zhongliang was the vice chairman of CITIC Financial Holdings and the chairman of China CITIC Bank, and Zhang Mingtian and other three people also served as senior executives of related companies; Li Shengkai has New Zealand nationality and his family members live there. In the past, he had used New Zealand passports to enter and exit my country many times before he was seized. The four people have the financial resources and ability to live abroad and are in danger of fleeing. Considering that the crimes involved are major financial crimes, they may also face civil claims for compensation in the future. Based on the "basic human nature of seeking good fortune and avoiding disaster and not being willing to be punished", the possibility of evading trial or execution of punishment is very high.
Gu Zhongliang argued that there was no motive for escape, and restrictions on leaving the country and subject control violated the principle of proportionality. In addition, due to work needs, he hoped that he could take selfies and report to the police outside his residence and at an unlimited location. Lin Xiangxi advocated that everyone should appear in court on time, and there is no need to continue subject control.
However, the High Court believed that the case was still being heard in the second instance. Even if the four people had appeared in court on time in the past and had not violated relevant sanctions, it could not be inferred that they would not have the motive to escape in the future. Moreover, our country is "surrounded by the sea, leaving the country is not difficult and there are many ways to do so." Simply uploading photos at non-fixed points may not be enough to ensure the smooth progress of the lawsuit, so it rejected the relevant claims.
The High Court ruled that Koo Chung-liang, Zhang Mingtian and Lin Xiangxi will be restricted from leaving the country and overseas for 8 months starting from September 13. They are required to take selfies and report at their designated residences from 7 am to 11 am every day. Li Shengkai extended the electronic ankle bracelet monitoring for 8 months and are required to take selfies and report at their New Taipei residence from 8 am to 10 am every day.
As for Gu Zhongliang and Zhang Mingtian’s request to relax the registration location and time due to work or family reasons, the High Court stated that when there is a specific need, the petition should be submitted with relevant evidence, and the court will handle it as appropriate according to the circumstances.
