Taiwan’s high court said Thursday it has cleared venture capital mogul Wen Ko of insider trading, reversing the ruling of a lower court which had ordered him jailed.
Ko, chairman of WK Technology Fund, had been sentenced to nine years in prison by a district court.
It ruled that he made an illegal profit of more than Tw$100 million ($3.4 million) through the acquisition of Taiwan’s Green Point Enterprises Co by US-based Jabil Circuit Inc.
Ko’s company was accused of buying a large number of shares in Green Point in 2006 before Jabil Circuit, a maker of printed circuit boards, announced in January 2007 that the merger was completed.
The high court quashed the conviction, citing a lack of evidence. Two company executives who had been sentenced to eight years in prison were also cleared of insider trading.
Ko is dubbed the “godfather of venture capital” by the Taiwanese media. His company focuses on the communications, semiconductor, IT and Internet and media sectors.
Taiwan's venture capital mogul cleared of insider trading
