Global Courant
Prosecutors in Taiwan have closed the investigation into the death of the Taiwanese teenager dubbed the “$500 million high school student” by local media following his mind-boggling death two hours after being legally married in May.
The 18-year-old, identified by his surname Lai, had fallen from a 10th-floor flat in Taichung on May 4.
The flat in Taiwan’s central city was the residence of a man identified only by the last name of Hsia, an escrow agent with whom Mr. Lai had just registered their marriage a few hours earlier.
At a press conference after the death, Mr Lai’s mother said that her son had inherited a property portfolio worth approximately NT$500 million (S$21.7 million) and accused Hsia of killing him to claim the substantial real estate portfolio.
After more than a month of investigation, Taichung prosecutors said on Wednesday that multi-agency investigations failed to provide sufficient evidence that Hsia or his father, also an escrow agent who allegedly managed the Lai family’s portfolio, were involved in the deaths. of the teenager.
Instead, Hsia is accused of forging the documents that legalized his marriage to Mr. Lai.
Prosecutors suspect he proposed a scam marriage while planning for Mr Lai’s inheritance, Taiwan’s China Times reported, citing the contents of the indictment report.
Hsia was previously suspected of murder but was released on NT$300,000 bail.
Prosecutors said last week an extensive autopsy found evidence, including injuries on Mr Lai’s body, showed there was no foul play leading to his fall. On Wednesday, they added that the high school student was “emotionally distressed” before his death.
According to China Times, prosecutors wrote in their indictment report that they felt Mr Lai had confided in Hsia and expressed uncertainty about the management of the property he had inherited. Feeling pressured by his biological father’s first wife and their children, who he says made a scene at his father’s funeral, he agreed to same-sex marriage with Hsia.
Local media has cast doubt on same-sex marriage being legal in Taiwan, citing witnesses, including Mr Lai’s former teachers, who said he had sought help over his unrequited feelings for a female classmate. His mother also denied that he was gay.
Hsia is suspected of seeking marriage witnesses who were not friends or relatives of himself and Mr. Lai, while also falsifying statements proving that both their parents knew about the marriage.
When the marriage is determined to be a sham, Hsia loses his claim to Mr. Lai’s inheritance, to which he may have asserted his right as a legally married partner.
Hsia was randomly seeking the two required witnesses for their marriage, Taichung prosecutors said, leading authorities to question his intentions. Examination of their phone records also concluded that the two had minimal contact before their marriage.
Taiwanese media quoted people at a convenience store near the Beitun County Registry Office, where the marriage was performed, as saying that Hsia had asked them for help, claiming that their families opposed the union.
