Some 70 elected local officials from the borough warden level up have been indicted since June in the government's war against "black gold," according to newly released statistics from the Ministry of Justice.
Meanwhile, prosecutors yesterday continued to question possible suspects and conduct raids in connection with several cases.
The chief of Lukang township (鹿港), Changhua County, was questioned about suspected bid-rigging in a local park construction project, but they later released him on NT$1 million bail.
In a separate case concerning an embankment construction project, prosecutors raided the town hall of Tacheng township (大城), Changhua County, and took some officials in for questioning. As of press time no detention or releases had been reported.
In Taichung County, prosecutors searched the home of the Shalu (
Among the approximately 70 people already under indictiment are one county commissioner, one city mayor, seven township chiefs, seven borough wardens and village chiefs, two legislators, 24 county councilors and 26 township councilors.
The county commissioner is Fu Hsueh-peng (
George Chang (張燦鍙), DPP mayor of Tainan, was indicted for allegedly covering up the corrupt practices of his subordinates. The prosecution requested that he be sentenced to 12 years in jail.
Two of the indicted legislators are the KMT's You Hwai-yin (
Last Friday, Changhua District Prosecutors' Office indicted 215 people involved in vote-buying for KMT candidates in the March presidential election, including Yuanlin township (
On the same day, Taitung County prosecutors indicted 19 current and 22 former county councilors, including the incumbent speaker and vice speaker, on corruption charges. Taitung County Council has a total of 29 councilors.
Last month, the township chief and all 13 councilors of Huwei township (
Nantou County Commissioner Peng Pai-hsien (
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest