Kaohsiung prosecutors and the Agency Against Corruption yesterday extended their probe into illegal bids held by state-run oil refiner CPC Corp Taiwan’s (CPC) Talin refinery by raiding several of its offices and questioning a number of CPC officials and contractors.
Investigators raided 16 locations, including the Talin refinery offices in Greater Kaohsiung, and summoned 16 people for questioning.
A number of documents and computer data were seized during the searches, the investigators added.
Investigators said they suspected a bid for an oil tank cleaning system in 2008 held by the Talin refinery was rigged and that it had illegally granted a Tainan contractor nearly NT$10 million (US$330,000) in profit.
Two Talin refinery managers, Ko Kuang-ming (柯光明) and Liu Wei-chen (劉偉禎), were questioned by investigators along with several contractors.
The interviews were ongoing as of press time last night.
Company chairman Chu Shao-hua (朱少華) is being investigated over a suspicious relationship with the private contractor who won an oil leak monitoring system bid at the Talin Refinery in 2006.
Investigators suspect that Chu helped a Kaohsiung contractor secure a contract for an oil leak monitoring system worth US$400,000, but only spent US$150,000 procuring the system from a US company and allegedly made a large illicit profit from the deal.
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