The Taiwan High Court yesterday overturned a district court’s decision to release Farglory Land Development Co (遠雄建設) chairman Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄) on bail, and ordered a new bail hearing to decide on whether to detain Chao in the investigation of allegations that he bribed a Taoyuan County official in connection with a development project.
The judges summoned Chao and Farglory manager Wei Chun-hsiung (魏春雄) to attend a hearing at 8:30pm and the hearing was still on going as press time last night.
The hearing followed the High Court’s decision earlier yesterday which, in response to an appeal filed by prosecutors, sent the matter back to the Taipei District Court, saying the lower court’s decision on Saturday to release Chao and Wei on bail was not well-grounded.
The high court said that the sum of NT$5 million (US$166,400) set as bail for Chao and NT$1 million for Wei were not enough to prevent them from fleeing the country.
The high court added that Chao called a meeting to discuss the matter with his executives after being released on bail on Saturday, suggesting that they might have an intention to conspire to pervert the course of justice.
Chao is being investigated on allegations of paying a bribe of NT$16 million, via an intermediary, Tsai Jen-hui (蔡仁惠), a retired professor, to then-Taoyuan County deputy commissioner Yeh Shih-wen (葉世文) to win a local government building contract.
Yeh previously served as director-general of the Construction and Planning Agency (CPA)
In the investigation, Tsai and Yeh — who was dismissed from his position as Taoyuan county deputy commissioner after prosecutors on Friday raided his office and residence as part of an investigation into the possible corruption — were both taken into custody on Saturday.
In the Friday morning raids, investigators seized NT$17 million in cash from Yeh’s home in Taipei and about NT$1.12 million in cash from his office in the county government.
Tsai allegedly picked up the money from a Farglory office in Taipei under instruction from Chao and Wei, investigators said.
Farglory secured the affordable housing project in Bade (八德) with a bid of NT$1.3 billion and on May 8 signed a contract with the county government.
Prosecutors said that they are investigating another case of suspected corruption allegedly involving Yeh.
Investigators said that during questioning, Tsai accused Chao of bribing Yeh to obtain another government housing project in New Taipei City’s Linkou (林口) in 2012, when Yeh was director-general of the Ministry of the Interior’s CPA.
Meanwhile, in response to the alleged bribery case, Minister of the Interior Chen Wen-jen (陳威人) said yesterday that the ministry would launch a probe into development projects handled by Yeh during his term as the head of the CPA.
“During Yeh’s term as the CPA’s director-general, he has handled several projects, including the construction of social housing complexes in Fujhou (浮洲) region and in Banciao (板橋) and Linkou districts in New Taipei City,” Chen said. “I have ordered a probe into those projects and will not hesitate to refer the case to the judiciary if anything illegal is discovered.”
Amber Shyu (徐玉紅), a resident of the Linkou project site who has been resisting forced eviction for nearly a decade, said she hopes investigators will work independently to dig out unlawful conduct involved in the project, so that the people can live happily and peacefully in their homes.
“If there are no greedy officials, corporations will not be able to do anything they want using money, and there would not be so many innocent people forced out of their homes and villages wiped out from the map,” she said.
Additional reporting by CNA
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
RSS