Special Investigation Panel officers yesterday launched a new round of investigations into bribery scandals involving at least two Taiwan High Court judges.
Leading agents from the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau (MJIB) and prosecutors raided 20 locations in Taipei City and County, Taoyuan County and Hsinchu County, including the residences of High Court Judge Yang Ping-chen (楊炳禎) and attorney Chiu Chuang-shun (邱創舜).
Five people were detained for questioning and 19 were interviewed as witnesses, prosecutors said.
At press time, the prosecutor had requested that Chiu be detained.
At the heart of the case was a ruling in 2005 by Taiwan High Court Judge Tsai Kuang-chih (蔡光治) exonerating former Taiwan High Court Hualien branch judge Chang Ping-lung (張炳龍), who had been sentenced to 12 years in jail for involvement in a bribery scandal.
Following the ruling, prosecutors launched an investigation over suspicions of bribery. Yang is also suspected of involvement in the bribe, prosecutors said.
Tsai, along with High Court judges Chen Jung-ho (陳榮和) and Lee Chun-ti (李春地) and Banciao prosecutor Chiu Mao-jung (邱茂榮), were detained last month on suspicion of corruption when handling a different case against former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator and Miaoli County commissioner Ho Chih-hui (何智輝).
In related developments, news reports alleged that the Taiwan High Court in January exonerated the son of Supreme Court Judge Hsiao Yang-kuei (蕭仰歸), who earlier had been sentenced by the Taipei District Court to six months in jail over a hit-and-run. The verdict was final.
Reports said that Kao Ming-che (高明哲), the High Court judge presiding over the case, was reportedly a close colleague of Hsiao in university and may have been lobbied by Hsiao into requesting two judges in his court to acquit the defendant.
The High Court yesterday said in a press statement the three judges were at odds on whether lobbying was involved, adding that a committee had been formed to investigate the matter.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost