Banciao District Court yesterday detained seven people suspected of bribing police officers to cover up illegal casinos.
The seven were bosses or staff members of several underground casinos in Taipei, the court said.
The court kept the seven in custody over fears they could conspire with police officers if they were released on bail.
Banciao prosecutors and agents from the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau on Monday raided 32 locations, including Taipei City Police Department's Da-an, Zhongshan and Nangang precincts.
A gambling den in Yonghe City, Taipei County, was also searched during the raids on Monday.
Casino personnel were detained on Monday for questioning, while a total of 11 Taipei police officers — including Zhongshan Precinct's Criminal Team chief Huang Chih-chin (黃志欽) — were interviewed by investigators.
Banciao prosecutors said they had yet to decide whether to release the police officers on bail or apply to the district court to detain them, adding that they had obtained evidence that suggested the casino runners might have bribed some police officers to cover up their businesses.
Taipei City Police Department said it had fully cooperated with the investigation. In 2006, Banciao prosecutors brought then-chief of Taipei County Police Department's Yonghe Precinct, Tsai Jung-yuan (蔡榮源), and several of his subordinates to justice for accepting bribes to cover up illegal casinos in Yonghe.
Banciao prosecutors said that after the raid on the casinos in Taipei County, the operators transferred their business to Taipei City and hooked up with police officers to protect their illegal business.
Prosecutors launched the investigation after two years of monitoring.
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