Taiwan — A Fine Predicament For Satellite Remnants

An interesting article in the Taiwan News reveals that prosecutors in Taipei are investigating the offer by a foundation to sell remains of a NASA satellite to help pay a NT$300 million fine for a jailed businessman. Former Taiwan Pineapple Group Chairman Huang Tsung-hung is sitting out a prison sentence of eight years and six months for obtaining illegal loans from the Chung Shing Commercial Bank, but also faces payment of the fine. Huang’s assets were frozen after the verdict in 2007.

An official at the Taipei District Prosecutors Office confirmed that an association he did not name recently came forward to offer remnants of the satellite bearing the name of NASA as a contribution to Huang’s fine. It was not immediately known whether the association was funded by Huang or even set up by friends or relatives, reports said. Until now, the tycoon had not made any payments, though he had supplied more than 600 antiques and documents which were in the process of being appraised, prosecutors said.

The prosecutors’ office had passed on the proposal to experts who were qualified to judge whether the satellite pieces were real or fake and what their value was, a spokesman said. A Taiwanese organization researching space bought more than 30 pieces of the satellite from Japan for 500 million yen (NT$175 million), reports said. The wreckage was currently stored at a remote farm in Southern Taiwan and put under 24-hour guard by a private security firm, according to media reports. If the pieces of satellite were real, they might contribute to Huang’s fine but would not lead to a release of the tycoon, prosecutors said. The satellite might also have to be donated to a museum or scientific organization for research or display, they said.