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Wang admits funeral-parlor-scam video was faked

"It really makes people feel good to uncover the truth!" Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said when he learned that the police have closed the case in which People First Party (PFP) Taipei City Councilor Mike Wang (王育誠) accused six local restaurants of illegally purchasing rice and dishes that were used to honor the dead at funeral parlors and sold them to unwitting customers.

"Good job, officers, I must say!" the premier said. "Accusations are easily made, but there is only one version of the truth."

The premier's remarks were in reference to Wang's public confession late Tuesday night that the entire story was fake.

The episode began on June 3, when Wang, who is also a senior reporter and producer of an in-depth investigation program on ETTV, said that many local restaurants allegedly purchased rice and dishes that were used as offerings for the dead at Taipei's two funeral parlors, re-cooked them and sold them.

According to Taoist traditions, a bowl of rice with an egg must be presented and used to honor the dead person, so that they will not be hungry on his way to heaven or hell. In addition to the bowl of rice and egg, sometimes other dishes, like vegetables or chicken, are also presented as offerings.

To prove his claims at the Taipei City Council, Wang presented a video.

In the video, a few men in black T-shirts and jeans were collecting the rice and dishes that were used to worship the dead at the funeral parlors, and then sold them to six local restaurants.

At the time, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said it is quite impossible that such a thing would be happening at city funeral parlors, but he promised that a detailed investigation would be carried out.

A few days later, the result of the investigation did not show such behavior at any restaurant. In addition, of the six restaurants that were accused of purchasing the offerings by Wang, four do not even exist.

On Tuesday, Wang decided to arrive at the restaurants to apologize in person. However, late on Tuesday night, he and three of his aides -- Shao Li-da (邵立達), Lu Jiunn-nan (盧俊男) and Kong Hsiang-dun (孔祥敦) -- suddenly held a press conference to admit that he had faked the entire drama.

In the meantime, police interrogated Hsu Che-ming (許哲銘), Lu's friend, and identified him as one of the men in the video. He told the police that he was merely following the script that was given by Shao, Lu and Kong.

At the press conference, Shao admitted that Lu, Kong and himself organized the entire affair and made the video. Kong was the photographer and Lu was in charge of buying the rice and chicken as props. The video was shot on Saturday morning, May 28.

Shao was immediately escorted to the Taipei City Police Department's Criminal Investigation Corps for further interrogation after the press conference, and was not released until noon yesterday.

Wang then announced that he would quit his membership in the PFP and consider resigning from the council.

In the meantime, ETTV also announced that Wang's in-depth investigative program will be suspended and that what he did has nothing to do with the TV station.
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