Banciao District prosecutors yesterday said that several more “A-list” baseball players may be summoned for questioning in the near future depending on evidence gathered after former La New Bears pitcher Chang Chih-chia (張誌家) was recently released on NT$80,000 bail.
Cheng Hsin-hung (鄭鑫宏), a spokesperson for the Banciao Prosecutors’ Office, said that because prosecutors have obtained additional evidence, they believe that Chang has been heavily involved with the “Windshield Wipers” gang that allegedly solicited professional baseball players to participate in game-fixing.
During questioning, Chang denied that the gang used cash and expensive cars to bribe him into throwing games.
However, when confronted with records of bank transactions that showed cash payments from the gang to his bank account, Chang said he had borrowed money from them.
Prosecutors said some members of the gang, which is led by Tsai Cheng-yi (蔡政宜), told prosecutors that some of the players took money and benefits, but did not carry out the necessary actions to aid in game-fixing as agreed.
Even if Chang denies throwing games, if there is enough evidence to prove that he accepted money or other forms of payment from the Windshield Wipers, he may still be found guilty of fraud, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said depending on how the case develops and whether additional evidence incriminates other players, more “A-list” players may be summoned for questioning.
The Chinese Professional Baseball League has been mired in repeated game-fixing scandals in recent years.
This is the fifth time in 20 years that professional baseball players in Taiwan have been investigated for throwing games.
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