Prosecutors from the Black Gold Investigation Center (
The raid was carried out as part of an investigation into suspected financial crimes.
Chenlan Temple, located in Taichung County, was recently the subject of much official and media attention concerning the lobbying of the government to allow its officials to lead a pilgrimage to Meizhou in China's Fujian Province, which was to involve a direct sea crossing between Taiwan and the mainland.
PHOTO: CHEN HUNG-YU, LIBERTY TIMES.
Yesterday's raid was led by prosecutors Lee Chin-yi (李慶義) and Chu Chao-liang (朱朝亮), both members of the investigation center's Central Taiwan Special Investigation Team. Over 20 investigators and police searched all the offices of the temple and the homes of its accountants from 7am to noon.
Lee questioned officials in person, including the temple's general affairs director Wang Fan-hsiung (
Prosecutors said they have recently received complaints that the Chenlan Temple forced local businessmen who wanted to rent booths next to the temple to pay NT$20,000 per month, although the land in question is the property of the county government.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
Taichung district prosecutors had already charged some temple officials with illegally occupying government land in early July. Investigators revealed yesterday, however, that the judiciary suspected some criminal organizations of trying to manipulate the temples' vast assets for their own ends.
"It is a strategy whereby investigators use an inquiry into a small case in the hope of uncovering information about more serious crimes," an investigator said.
The vice chairman of the temple's board, Cheng Ming-kun (
"We respect the judiciary's rights," Cheng said yesterday, "but there is nothing illegal about the way in which money and property are handled by Chenlan Temple."
Chairman of the temple's board, Yen Ching-piao (
Some politicians said yesterday that the new government had it in for Yen because of his support for James Soong (
"We hope the government will not investigate selectively," PFP lawmaker Liu Wen-hsiung (
A ruling party lawmaker said, however, that the new government was starting to act on its determination to terminate "black-gold."
"Chenlan Temple's assets are worth over NT$1 billion," said DPP lawmaker Chiu Tai-san (
Chiu said that the new government had decided to cut off criminal organizations' illicit funds at their source and that the Chenlan Temple case was just the beginning of the government's efforts to fight "black gold" by such methods.
Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) said that there was no selectivity in the handling of criminal cases but stressed that the judiciary had to focus on larger cases in order to make the best use of its limited resources and manpower.
"The spirit of terminating `black gold' in our action center," Chen said, "is that catching `big tigers' (
Chiu added that the execution of former Pingtung County Council Speaker Cheng Tai-chi (
Chen was convicted of conspiracy to murder Chung Yuan-feng (
"Cheng's case dragged on for over six years while judicial procedures took their course," Chiu said. "The new government proved that it is more efficient than its KMT predecessor."
Chiu said that President Chen Shui-bian (
"To my understanding, the new government will solve one big case per month from August onwards," Chiu said.
(See Also:Editorial)
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique