The government is to launch a comprehensive inspection of all major transportation projects to determine if officials had accepted bribes from the French company Alstom, Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) said yesterday.
The Levallois-Perret-based firm had agreed to pay US$772 million to the US earlier this week after pleading guilty to bribery charges following an investigation by the US Department of Justice.
The US investigation showed that between 2000 and 2010, Alstom had paid more than US$75 million in bribes to secure US$4 billion in contracts around the world, including in Egypt, Indonesia and Taiwan.
US Deputy Attorney General James Cole said on Monday that the bribery scheme “was astounding in its breadth, its brazenness and its worldwide consequences.”
Taiwan’s alleged involvement in the Alstom’s bribery scheme was brought up by lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which was scheduled to review construction funds for the high-speed rail system.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津), who presided over the budget review session, said that reports showed that Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) and Taipei Rapid Transport Corp (TRTC) had conducted business with Alstom in the past.
The VAL256-model trains deployed on the Taipei MRT’s Wenhu Line (Line 1) use electric, mechanical and signaling systems produced by Alstom, while Taipower uses Alstom’s turbine engines for its thermal power plants, she said.
Yeh Yi-jin said that she has evidence that Alstom was involved in the construction of the nation’s Airport Rail.
She added that a former low-level civil servant in the TRTC was hired by Alstom to work in the French company’s branch office.
She questioned whether officials involved in Airport Rail project might have also accepted bribes from the French multinational company.
In response, Yeh Kuang-shih said that the ministry would conduct a comprehensive inspection of all transport projects under its supervision.
The Bureau of High Speed Rail said the Marubani Corp secured the overall contract for the Airport Rail’s signaling system, which then outsourced the contract of installing the system to Siemens. Alstom is not involved in the project.
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