Nantou District Prosecutors Office yesterday indicted Nantou County Commissioner Peng Pai-hsien (
Five county officials and 11 businessmen were indicted along with Peng.
Authorities continued to question Peng throughout the day and into the evening yesterday. As of press time, it was not yet decided whether Peng would be released on bail or continue to be held for further questioning. Peng has already been in detention for two months.
The prosecution said it requested the harsh sentence for Peng because he had taken advantage of the misfortune of others to make money for himself, as well as the fact that there were multiple charges against Peng.
Outside the district court offices, Peng's supporters rallied all day yesterday for his release. Riot police were called in to keep an eye on the situation but the protests remained peaceful.
Prosecutors alleged that Peng and his close aides had misappropriated over NT$13 million in quake relief funds.
"After the quake, many people willing to donate money were not aware of the distinctions between government relief funds and [Peng's] New Nantou (新南投) Foundation and the Nantou County Construction and Development Foundation (南投縣建設發展基金會)," Nantou divisional head prosecutor Hsu Sung-kuei (
"Peng and his confidential secretary, Cheng Su-ching (
In the latter case, the money defrauded amounted to some NT$13.52 million, Hsu said.
But those close to Peng refuted the charges.
"This is an absolutely absurd indictment; we cannot accept it," said Cheng Su-ching in an interview with TVBS.
She said after the quake, people were uneasy donating money to the government relief efforts because they thought that giving money to a private fund would be better for quake victims since the government response was bound to be slow.
"It was under these circumstance that we offered them the option of donating to the Nantou County Construction and Development Foundation," Cheng said.
She stressed that the foundation was committed to reconstruction work.
"We did not take a cent from the foundation funds, nor did the foundation get a cent from the county government or any governmental relief fund," she said.
Stella Chen (陳婉真), director of the county's Social Affairs Bureau, also said "the prosecution is misleading the public by indicating the foundations as if the money had come straight out of Peng's own pockets."
The prosecution has also alleged that Peng was behind bid rigging in several post-quake reconstruction projects, including that of the county government's temporary office building.
The indictment says Peng bypassed public bidding procedures and awarded the contracts to companies he favored and in exchange for political support.
The prosecution also requested a 10-year sentence for Cheng Su-ching, 10 years for Chen Ming-chuan, 20 years for the county government advisor Pai Hsi-min (白錫旼), 15 years for the county government's contractor for construction design Wu Cheng-hsun (吳政勳) and seven years for the county government's policy planning unit director Tsai Pi-yun (蔡碧雲).
Peng, a political independent, was once a close associate of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), when both were DPP lawmakers. Peng withdrew from the DPP in 1997 when he decided to run for the post of commissioner after he was not nominated by the party.
Peng won the election by a narrow margin ahead of his KMT and DPP opponents.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
RSS