Authorities searched several locations in central Taiwan yesterday and seized evidence in an ongoing probe into alleged corruption, money laundering and collusion concerning land development projects during the tenure of former Changhua County commissioner Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源).
Offices and residences of Cho’s relatives and business associates were searched in yesterday’s raids, conducted by the Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office.
Cho was Changhua County commissioner from 2009 until last year, and served as a legislator for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) from 2002 to 2005. He was regarded as one of the party’s rising stars, and was a secretary-general of the KMT caucus in the legislature.
The offices of Cho’s wife, Lin Jung-jung (林蓉蓉), a prosecutor at the High Prosecutors’ Office in Taichung, were also searched and evidence seized.
Investigators searched Cho’s home in Taichung, his sister Cho Shi-wen’s (卓仕文) house, the Cho family residence in Changhua County and factories run by relatives of Cho Po-yuan in Changhua County.
The former commissioner’s brother Cho Po-chung (卓伯仲) was sentenced to nine years in jail in January by the Changhua District Court on collusion and embezzlement charges, after he was found to have pocketed NT$49 million (US$1.57 million) in government-mandated procurement funds for environment-friendly garbage bags.
Prosecutors suspect associates of the former commissioner were involved in money laundering, and said that some of his relatives had bought luxury mansions in Taichung, but were unable to give a clear account of where the money used in the purchases came from.
Following the searches, Cho Po-yuan yesterday held a press conference outside the legislature to denounce investigators’ actions.
He denied that he and members of his family were planning to flee the country, and accused the Changhua prosecutors of conducting “illegal searches” and what he said were violations of his family’s rights.
In response to reporters’ questions, Cho Po-yuan said he and his family had not bought real-estate using money from illicit sources, and that the investigation was clearly politically motivated.
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