Former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世) was released on NT$50 million (US$1.7 million) yesterday afternoon.
Lin, who has been detained by prosecutors since July 2, was granted bail early yesterday by the Taipei District Court following his indictment on corruption-related charges on Thursday, but he was not released immediately because he failed to come up with the required amount at the time.
Lin is accused of demanding and accepting bribes, concealing illegal gains and keeping unaccountable assets, according to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division (SID).
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Lin’s release sparked an outcry from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers.
“Taiwan’s judiciary is morally bankrupt,” DPP Legislator Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said.
DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) described it as “iron-clad evidence of political interference in the judicial process.”
Some netizens also reacted to reports that Lin’s family was able to come up with NT$50 million for bail within 20 hours.
“For most people, it would take 100 years to round up that amount,” one netizen commented.
“Has the government gone crazy?” another wrote. “Corrupt people can post money to be released on bail?”
A netizen using the name “ming_ray” said: “No wonder Mr Ma Ying-jeou promised to make people feel good about the economy within one month. Now we have the state coffers earning NT$50 million. This is quite a good, credible promise!”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾), who has frequently drawn the party’s ire with her comments, said: “The KMT government should not dig its own grave just to protect Lin.”
“The SID should publicly explain the many questions surrounding the case, or else the public will have no confidence in the judiciary,” Lo said.
KMT caucus whip Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), on the other hand, said that DPP members involved in corruption cases such as Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) and DPP Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) had also been released upon posting bail, adding that there was no difference in treatment between pan-blue and pan-green politicians.
Lin’s case came to light on June 27 when a local magazine reported that he helped Kaohsiung-based Ti Yung Co (地勇選礦公司地勇選礦公司) to secure a slag treatment contract from a subsidiary of China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) in 2010, when Lin was serving as a KMT legislator.
In return, Ti Yung owner Chen Chi-hsiang (陳啟祥) gave Lin NT$63 million, the indictment read.
The magazine reported that Lin demanded a further NT$83 million from Chen early this year after he was appointed Cabinet secretary-general.
When Chen refused to pay up, Lin allegedly pressured CSC, a listed company in which the government has a controlling stake, to stop supplying slag to Ti Yung.
Lin’s mother, Shen Juo-lan (沈若蘭), who allegedly received the bribe along with Lin, was indicted as another principal offender in the case, according to the indictment.
Lin’s wife, Peng Ai-chia (彭愛佳), and his two maternal uncles — Shen Huan-yao (沈煥瑤) and Shen Huan-chang (沈煥璋) — were charged with money laundering for concealing the bribe on behalf of Lin, the indictment said.
Chen, who gave testimony against Lin as a witness for the prosecutors in the investigation, was under investigation in a separate case by the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office.
Additional reporting by Chien Li -chung
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary