BenQ faces insider trading probe as CFO gets locked up

By Evan Blass | March 15, 2007

If you thought the BenQ Mobile saga ended when Taiwan severed ties with the former Siemens unit and prepared to slice it up and serve it cold, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. It’s no secret that the struggling handset maker had been losing money ever since the handover, but apparently some company insiders may have used their knowledge of the impending bankruptcy filing to get out while the getting was still good — selling shares of BenQ prior to the announcement and the inevitable consequences. So far 13 executives have been caught up in the sting — including CFO and senior VP Eric Yu, who is still being “detained” along with six others in lieu of what is probably well over $100,000 bail — and although Chairman K.Y. Lee hasn’t yet been named as a person of interest, Taiwanese investors were still shaken enough to push BenQ shares down almost 7% to their lowest level in ten years. In a typical response during times of scrutiny, the company itself publicly pledged its cooperation, but with all the top dogs behind bars, we’re not sure if anyone will still be around to provide the relevant documents. Either way, you should hold on tight to all that BenQ gear you’ve been collecting over the years, just in case, you know, they happen to become collectibles.