TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Law enforcement has launched a manhunt for the former chair of Taiyen Green Energy Company in connection with corruption allegations, reports said Saturday (Nov. 2).

Chen Chi-yu (陳啟昱), a former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker, failed to turn up for a hearing at Tainan District Court Friday (Nov. 1) to determine whether he should be detained. The case of alleged corruption involves breach of trust and publication of false information.

Qiaotou District Prosecutors Office issued a warrant for Chen’s arrest, and hundreds of agents from the Coast Guard Administration, the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau, and the Tainan and Kaohsiung police departments are on the lookout for him, per CNA.

Chen is still believed to be inside the country after a court banned him on Oct. 24 from leaving Taiwan and from traveling out to sea. Prosecutors had requested his detention the previous day, but the court ruled he could remain free.

Friday’s hearing was the result of prosecutors appealing against the October decision. Chen never showed up for the seven-hour court session discussing detention for him and four other suspects in the same case. 

The court ruled that two business people should be detained, but the two others could be released without bail.

The case included suspicious financial dealings involving NT$300 million (US$9.39 million), the Liberty Times reported.