Two more principals in New Taipei City (新北市) were detained yesterday for allegedly accepting bribes from catering firms, the Banciao District Prosecutors’ Office said, in an ongoing scandal over school lunch vendors.
Principals Lee Ying-tsung (李應宗) of Houpu Elementary School, in Banciao (板橋), and Ko Fen (柯份) of Luzhou Elementary School were held incommunicado on corruption charges.
Principals Hsu Li-chen (許利楨) of Cheng Kung Elementary School in Lujhou District (蘆洲) and Tsai Pao-chun (蔡寶俊) from Qing Shui Elementary School in Tucheng District (土城), who are also under investigation, were released on NT$1 million (US$33,300) bail after lengthy questioning that began on Thursday.
Meanwhile, New Taipei City’s Department of Education announced that Lee and Ko would be suspended from their positions, while Hsu and Tsai would be demoted to teaching posts and reassigned to the department as staff.
The four were questioned after Banciao prosecutors launched a second wave of investigations on Thursday into cases of alleged bribery over the provision of school lunches, looking into the practices at 13 elementary schools and seven junior-high schools in New Taipei City.
During the first wave of investigations, Banciao prosecutors on Oct. 28 detained 14 people in New Taipei City, including five principals, a middleman and a number of school employees overseeing lunch programs.
The recent probes came in response to a tip-off in May that several elementary-school principals in New Taipei City had been accepting kickbacks from lunch suppliers.
Minister of Education Wu Ching-ji (吳清基) yesterday instructed all city and county governments to immediately launch investigations to determine whether schools beyond New Taipei City are also involved in the practice, especially as most elementary and junior-high schools have cafeterias supplied by privately run catering companies.
Also yesterday, the Taiwan High Court revoked the Banciao District Court’s ruling from late last month on the 14 people questioned in the first wave of investigations and ordered a retrial.
The Banciao District Court, on the recommendation of the District Prosecutors’ Office, on Oct. 29 released two principals on NT$200,000 bail, while three other principals, nine school employees and private caterers be held incommunicado.
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals, including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns. Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), prosecutors said. Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders. The recall campaign leaders, including Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃), Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths
RSS