Chief of 'gutter oil' firm detained in Taiwan on fraud charges
Detention of Chang Guann boss, who authorities feared may flee, comes as dozens more food items are added to long list of banned goods
Taiwanese authorities yesterday detained the head of the company at the centre of the widening "gutter oil" scandal as dozens more food items that contain the tainted products were added to a list of goods banned from sale.
Yeh Wen-hsiang, head of Kaohsiung-based cooking oil supplier Chang Guann, was questioned by prosecutors in Pingtung, southern Taiwan, over his role in the scandal.
"We suspected that Yeh was aware of the fraud after we compared his testimony with that of other witnesses. We asked that the court detain him for fear that he might flee Taiwan," a Pingtung Prosecutors Office spokesman said.
Chang Guann is believed to have imported lard oil - made from pork fat but intended for use in animal feed or for industrial use - from a Hong Kong trading company, which passed it off as fit for human consumption. It blended that oil with "gutter oil" - oil recycled from food waste and leather processing - to produce a product it sold as cooking oil to food manufacturers in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Yeh has maintained his innocence, insisting that he thought the oil was safe for human use.
Watch: Boss of Taiwanese 'gutter oil' firm drinks oil to prove it is safe