District prosecutors led investigators in a search of Sika Taiwan’s offices yesterday and confiscated inventory reports, contracts and other paperwork as part of their investigation into a scandal over the use of defective adhesive in public construction projects.
Sika Taiwan is suspected of failing to inform the Taipei City Government of a product recall in January by the manufacturer’s US branch, Sika USA.
The city government used one of the recalled products, AnchorFix-4, in several construction projects, including the Xinsheng Overpass (新生高架橋), until the Chinese-language Next Magazine contacted city officials earlier this month with questions about the use of the adhesives.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said it did not wait for city government to file the lawsuit, but assigned prosecutor Lin Tsung-chih (林宗志) to lead the investigation to help speed up the process.
Investigators from the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau took part in the raid on the Sika Taiwan’s office in Lujhu (蘆竹) Township, Taoyuan County.
Prosecutors said they were trying to determine whether Sika Taiwan committed offenses against public safety, or engaged in fraud and forgery.
They said a key element in the probe would be determining whether its managers and employees deliberately failed to inform the city of the recall.
They said they would call the company’s managers in for questioning.
The Xinsheng Overpass has been undergoing a NT$1.6 billion (US$48 million) renovation since July last year.
It had been scheduled to reopen at the end of next month.
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