The Taipei District Court yesterday ordered Farglory Land Development Co (遠雄建設) chairman Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄) to be detained after the Taiwan High Court on Sunday overturned the district court’s decision to release Chao on NT$5 million (US$166,400) bail in an investigation over allegations that he bribed a local government official in connection with a development project in Taoyuan County.
The district court held a hearing at 8:30pm on Sunday to decide on whether to detain Chao and Farglory manager Wei Chun-hsiung (魏春雄).
The hearing proceeded for four hours and at 12:45am yesterday, the district court judges ruled that Chao and Wei be detained.
Photo: CNA
Chao’s attorneys yesterday filed an appeal against Chao’s detention with the Taiwan High Court.
The district court yesterday said Chao and Wei, both holding top positions in the company, have significant influence on the company’s workers and it could be easy for them to conspire with the company’s staff or destroy evidence.
After Chao was released on bail on Saturday, he called a meeting to discuss the matter with company executives, and ordered staff involved in the case back to the headquarters to discuss the matter with him, suggesting that they might have an intention to conspire to pervert the course of justice, prosecutors said.
The Taipei District Court said Chao and Wei changed their previous statements and made accordant statements in Sunday’s hearing, suggesting that they might have met to discuss their statements.
The district court added that prosecutors during the hearing said that investigators had intercepted a large number of documents the company allegedly attempted to destroy that were transferred to a waste paper treatment factory in Taoyuan County.
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.
Both Tsai and Yeh were taken into custody on Saturday.
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 they are investigating another case of suspected corruption allegedly involving Yeh.
According to the prosecutors, Tsai has also 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 Construction and Planning Agency.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
AMENDMENT: Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of high-temperature days, affecting economic productivity and public health, experts said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is considering amending the Meteorological Act (氣象法) to classify “high temperatures” as “hazardous weather,” providing a legal basis for work or school closures due to extreme heat. CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) yesterday said the agency plans to submit the proposed amendments to the Executive Yuan for review in the fourth quarter this year. The CWA has been monitoring high-temperature trends for an extended period, and the agency contributes scientific data to the recently established High Temperature Response Alliance led by the Ministry of Environment, Lu said. The data include temperature, humidity, radiation intensity and ambient wind,
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
RSS