Prosecutors yesterday listed five current and former lawmakers, and four others, as suspects in a corruption probe, and applied to place them in judicial detention.
The move followed raids on the lawmakers’ offices at the Legislative Yuan and other locations on Friday in connection with long-running disputes and litigation over Far Eastern Group’s (遠東集團) takeover of Pacific Sogo Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨), involving a number of politicians, their aides and businesspeople.
After questioning, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office sought charges of corruption and taking bribes totaling NT$40 million (US$1.36 million) against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) and Sufin Siluko, along with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chen-ching (蘇震清) and independent Legislator Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇).
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Prosecutors have accused Su of taking the highest bribe of about NT$20 million, while NT$9.2 million was found in Chao’s office, believed to be bribe money.
New Power Party (NPP) Chairman Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), a former legislator, also faces charges under the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
Former DPP legislator Mark Chen (陳唐山), who also faces pending corruption charges, was released in the morning after posting NT$500,000 bail.
Prosecutors applied with the bail court to detain the four current lawmakers and Hsu, as well as former Pacific Distribution Investment Co (太平洋流通) chairman Lee Heng-lung (李恆隆) and his three aides, citing the possibility that they could collude on their testimony, tamper with evidence or flee abroad.
Lee has since 2002 been embroiled in disputes and litigation against Far Eastern Group chairman Douglas Hsu (徐旭東) over the ownership of Pacific Sogo, with courts ruling in favor of both parties in separate verdicts.
When summoned by prosecutors for questioning on Friday night, Lee denied the bribery charges, while confirming that he had given NT$20 million to Su, saying that it was a loan, which Su had paid back.
The other lawmakers are suspected of receiving smaller bribes, the prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also questioned three men who are suspected of acting as “white gloves” in the case — Knowledge International Consultancy (是知管理顧問公司) general manager and political lobbyist Kuo Ke-ming (郭克銘), Tonlin Department Store (統領百貨) general manager Weng Hua-li (翁華利), and Singaporean businessman George Guek (郭明忠), founder of Singapore-based BreadTalk Group.
Investigators reportedly have evidence and witness testimony that Kuo, Weng and Guek had personal ties with Lee, and joined forces to wrestle back control of Pacific Sogo from Douglas Hsu and his Far Eastern Group.
Lee allegedly sought a business partnership with Guek’s firm to boost capital and became a major shareholder in Lee’s Pacific Distribution Investment.
He also allegedly urged BreadTalk Group to launch an international business lawsuit over accusations that Douglas Hsu’s subsidiary firm in 2002 forged documents to falsify capitalization figures to gain control of Pacific Sogo.
Following questioning, Weng was released on NT$2 million bail and the lawmakers’ aides were released on NT$100,000 bail each, while prosecutors were still questioning Kuo as of press time last night.
In an investigation into Chao allegedly pressuring a Ministry of the Interior department to rezone a plot of land to benefit development inside Yangmingshan National Park, funeral service business owners Chung Ke-hsin (鍾克信) and Chen Ming-han (陳明瀚) were released on bail of NT$1 million and NT$300,000 respectively.
The implicated legislators were members of the legislature’s Finance Committee or allegedly lobbied for Lee’s efforts to regain control of Pacific Sogo, and questioned the legality of Douglas Hsu taking over the company.
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
AGING: As of last month, people aged 65 or older accounted for 20.06 percent of the total population and the number of couples who got married fell by 18,685 from 2024 Taiwan has surpassed South Korea as the country least willing to have children, with an annual crude birthrate of 4.62 per 1,000 people, Ministry of the Interior data showed yesterday. The nation was previously ranked the second-lowest country in terms of total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime. However, South Korea’s fertility rate began to recover from 2023, with total fertility rate rising from 0.72 and estimated to reach 0.82 to 0.85 by last year, and the crude birthrate projected at 6.7 per 1,000 people. Japan’s crude birthrate was projected to fall below six,
RSS