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Two involved in sand sales probe

Tainan County Council Speaker Wu Chien-bao (吳健保) and Councilor Lee Chuan-fu (李全富), both Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members, were accused yesterday of illegally quarrying sand from the Tsengwen River and earning more than NT$1 billion for selling the sand to construction companies.

Tainan District Prosecutors' Office Spokesman Fan Wen-hao (范文豪) said Wu was summoned by prosecutors for questioning and that they asked the court last night to detain him. As of press time last night, the detention order had not been granted.

Prosecutors have not been able to locate Lee. His older brother, KMT Legislator Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教), yesterday called for his sibling to meet with investigators.

Prosecutors said Wu ran the Tainan-based Fu-hsin Co, which won a public bid in March last year to dredge the channel of the Tsengwen River.

Prosecutors said Lee Chuan-fu had cooperated with Wu on the sand business.

They said the contract called for the company to quarry silt from the river and deepen its channel to 4m. However, they said, the company deepened the channel to 13m, and sold the dredged sand to construction companies while partially filling the channel with earth from the riverbank.

Prosecutors said quarrying had severely damaged the environment and endangered bridges across the river.

The investigation into Wu and Lee Chuan-fu began after Lee was reportedly kidnapped by fugitive Chang His-ming (張錫銘) last month. Fu-hsin Co paid a NT$30 million ransom for Lee. Investigators wondered why Wu and his firm were willing to pay the ransom.

Prosecutors believe Chang kidnapped Lee because he wanted some of the money the county councillor had reportedly made from the sand sales. Chang is on the most-wanted list for his alleged involvement in several kidnapping cases.

Tainan prosecutors led raids on Thursday of the Tainan Bureau of the Water Resources Agency (WRA), the residences of Wu and Lee Chuan-fu, and the dredging site.

Prosecutors said Wu had been tipped off about the raids in advance and so they didn't find him at his home or office on Thursday.

He was picked up last night after police found him in his car near his home.

Investigators are also probing whether Wu bribed a WRA official at the Tainan bureau to win the dredging bid for NT$50 million. Prosecutors said they are also investigating some WRA employees.

Prosecutors have summoned more than 80 people for questioning in the case, including Fu-hsin employees and construction workers.
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