Two senior New Taipei City police officers yesterday were detained incommunicado and two more were released on bail after being questioned over allegations of involvement in loan sharking and illegally confiscating private property.
Prosecutors detained Criminal Investigation Division senior specialist Chang Ming-wei (張明偉) and Haishan Precinct Captain Chang Wen-hsien (張文賢) to prevent them from fleeing or colluding with others amid a corruption probe that has reached into the upper echelons of the city’s police.
Wensheng Borough (文聖) police station chief Chang Ming-chao (張明朝) and Luzhou District (蘆洲) police station chief Lu Chih-hsiu (呂志修) were freed after posting bail of NT$200,000 (US$6,513) each.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office raided several locations on Friday last week, and served warrants to take the four officers and 13 other individuals associated with the case into custody for questioning.
Prosecutors said they are investigating the actions of the four men between 2009 and last year.
They allege the four suspects made more than NT$10 million though the questionable ownership of confiscated properties and other activities.
Prosecutors said they plan to file charges of fraud, corruption, forgery, blackmail and profiteering against the suspects.
They said Chang Ming-wei was the alleged ringleader of the group because of his ties with a company specializing in “real-estate management” and underground money-lending in Lujhou District headed by Su Ta-chang (蘇大昌).
Su was convicted last year after being arrested for loan sharking.
Chang Ming-wei reportedly got the other officers to invest as shareholders in Su’s company.
Prosecutors alleged the four abused their authority by backing the loan sharking operation and threatening people who were behind in their loan payments.
The prosecutors said the four threatened and forced clients of Su’s company to sign over their homes and other real estate that had been put up as collateral. They then transferred the homes and property deeds to themselves or family members, prosecutors said.
When victims threatened to report the officers to the police, the suspects allegedly told them: “It is no use, we are police officials … they will not handle your case.”
Several people who were allegedly forced to turn over their property to the four suspects had been left homeless, although some of them had filed civil lawsuits against the suspects.
Prosecutors said that Chang Ming-wei has admitted his full involvement in the scheme, while Lu admitted to engaging in money-lending and debt-collecting.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS