The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said that two military officers have been detained by prosecutors for criminal activity, and that a number of senior officers have received administrative punishment due to their failure to supervise the officers.
Army Major Chang Shou-chung (
18 officials
"Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (
"In addition to cooperating with prosecutors, we are also working on a further investigation to determine whether there are more military personnel involved in this," the spokesman said.
According to the list, the highest-ranking officer to receive administrative punishment is Lieutenant General Chao Shih-chang (
Complaints
According to the MND, the investigation began last year, when Tainan Prosecutor Lin Chung-bin (
Lin's investigation directed him to Chang and Lin. He then worked with Kaohsiung Prosecutor Lo Shui-lang (
Prosecutors discovered that in addition to their "business" as loan sharks, Chang and Lee also allegedly stole rifles, pistols and ammunition from the military, and then sold them to unidentified mafia members.
Raids
A team of prosecutors then launched a raid on seven different locations in Tainan and Kaohsiung that Chang and Lee frequented, and summoned four witnesses for interrogation. They discovered 12 rounds of ammunition, empty magazines for M-16 rifles and two homemade pistols at Lee's residence.
Local Chinese-language news media reported that Chang and Lee were also running a prostitution ring and operated a brothel. However, Cheng denied this report.
"According to our understanding, this accusation [that Chang and Lee operated a brothel] remains speculatory, because we do not have sufficient evidence to support the charge," Cheng said.
Chang and Lee came from the same military unit -- the Eighth Division's Communication Corps -- in which Chang had served as the deputy head of the corps.
Retirement
Chang's army career was to have ended in approximately five days, as he was scheduled to retire.
As a result, he had already left his unit and is currently stationed at a base in Tainan County, attending a vocational training center for retiring military personnel.
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