Amid the expanding probe into allegations customs and inspection officials were bribed to allow the import of questionable seafood and agricultural products, investigators yesterday said they have added two more companies to the list of those being probed over their imports.
The two firms are seafood companies operated by Lin Wei-chang (林韋昌) and Sun Yi-wen (孫以文), who import Chinese sturgeon eggs for local aquaculture farms.
Lin and Sun allegedly falsified importation papers, and forged documents to show their sturgeon roe had passed safety inspection and quarantine procedures so they could pass through customs unimpeded, investigators said.
The probe hit the headlines after 12 people were questioned on Tuesday after raids carried out by the Agency Against Corruption at 14 locations.
Two government officials were among the 12, Yang Chun-yuan (楊俊源), a Customs Administration Taipei Branch official, and Taoyuan Health Department staffer Chang En-shuo (張恩碩), who was in charge of safety testing and destruction of products that failed to pass the tests.
Investigators said they have sufficient evidence with corroborating testimonies to warrant filing corruption and forgery charges against Yang and Chang, including allegations of taking bribes from companies and import brokerage houses to greenlight suspect food products from Southeast Asia, some of which had failed safety inspection tests, along shrimps from Japan’s Chiba Prefecture with a radioactivity level that exceeded the legal limit.
Investigators said that during questioning, Chang admitted receiving bribes and gifts from importers.
“I was just following usual practice. Everyone was doing the same thing,” they quoted him as saying.
Yang allegedly has admitted to accepting seafood products as “token gifts” from importers, and denied that they were bribes.
The New Taipei City District Court on Wednesday set bail for Yang at NT$1 million (US$32,580), while Chang was released on NT$800,000 bail.
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