Official denies prosecutor celebrated with gangsters

Vice Minister of Justice Hsieh Wen-ting (謝文定) yesterday denied reports that a prosecutor dined with gang members at a Taipei City restaurant earlier this month.

After viewing video tapes taken by police of the dinner held by the Four Seas Gang (四海幫), one of Taiwan's most notorious organized crime groups, Hsieh said he had seen no one he recognized as a prosecutor.

According to the Taipei Police Headquarters, the Four Seas Gang held a two-hour dinner party as the inauguration for its four new division chiefs at a restaurant in Taipei City on July 18.

A senior officer from the Ta-an precinct said a prosecutor from one of Taipei's three prosecutors' offices had been spotted at the dinner.

To investigate the allegation, Hsieh invited several high-ranking prosecutors from the Taiwan High Court and the district prosecutors' offices in Taipei, Panchiao and Shihlin to watch the tapes provided by the city police's Criminal Investigation Corps.

"The Criminal Investigation Sections of the Peitou Precinct and the Ta-an Precinct sent officers to the restaurant to take pictures and shoot video tapes.

These are the results," Hsieh, clutching the two video tapes, said at a press conference yesterday.

"I'm sorry that I cannot play the tapes in public but I firmly assure you that there were no prosecutors at the dinner. The story was not true," he said.

Hsieh said that he had no idea where the "rumor" came from after watching the tapes for nearly four hours with the other prosecutors.

"We'll definitely punish the prosecutor if the man does exist," he said. "If this is true, it would damage the credibility and the image of the justice system, and we cannot let that happen. However, it's not."

A senior police officer from the Ta-an Precinct who had confirmed the "rumor" with the Taipei Times on Sunday was yesterday reluctant to speak against the vice justice minister.

"Maybe there's some misunderstanding. Maybe we recognized the wrong person. But it's not a proper time for me to speak on behalf of the police," the officer said.

The police said that nearly 350 guests attended the dinner party and most of them were other local gang members and businessmen, according to the police.

The police did not say whether police officers or military officers attended the dinner.

Established in May, 1955, the Four Seas Gang operates mainly in Taipei City's Shihlin and Peitou Districts.

As well as the traditional gangster businesses of blackmail and gambling, the gang also makes money from its restaurants, nightclubs and construction companies.