New Taipei City Department of Land Administration deputy director-general Wang Sheng-wen (王聖文) was found dead on Tuesday in an apparent suicide after prosecutors searched his residence in Taoyuan in connection with a construction license application corruption investigation.
Nine contractors, including Ching Tsuan Construction Co (晶鑽建設) manager Lee Chia-hsiang (李嘉詳), were questioned by New Taipei City district prosecutors and Agency Against Corruption agents on suspicion of bribing city officials.
The New Taipei City District Court later approved a request to have Lee detained incommunicado.
Photo: He Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The nine allegedly bribed Wang and two officials at the Taipei Department of Urban Development in 2010 when they were applying for a construction permit for an eight-story building on Xinhu Road in Taipei’s Neihu Technology Park.
Prosecutors said that Wang and his wife were present when they searched his Taoyuan residence on Tuesday morning and that Wang had been cooperative.
Sources said Wang had apparently jumped from the eighth floor of his residential building on Tuesday afternoon.
He was rushed to hospital, but was declared dead on arrival.
“The entire process had gone smoothly and peacefully, and we do not understand why Wang would commit suicide,” prosecutors said, adding that Wang was not listed as a defendant in the case.
Wang left a letter saying he had not accepted money from two individuals, whose names have been withheld by the district prosecutors’ office due to the sensitivity of the case.
Wang’s family said he did not leave a will or any other statement other than the letter.
Police said they had asked the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office to order an autopsy on Wang to confirm the cause of death.
In addition, the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office had asked the Department of Land Administration to provide data on recent development projects.
In response, the department said it had asked the district prosecutors’ office “to clarify its request, because the department does not understand which files or projects it wants.”
Taipei Department of Urban Development Deputy Commissioner Chang Kang-wei (張剛維) said prosecutors had seized a document from the department on Monday night, adding that he would fully cooperate with the investigation.
Additional reporting by Chen Wei-tzu and Chung Hung-liang
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