Kaohsiung prosecutors asked a Kaohsiung court yesterday to hold incommunicado two police officers charged with racketeering. At the time of this report, the court had not yet handed down a ruling.
Prosecutors suspect that "a number" of police officers from at least two police stations of the Kaohsiung County Police Bureau operate an illegal gambling house and have provided protection to illegal video arcades.
On Tuesday, six prosecutors from the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office and more than 100 investigators and military police officers raided the police bureau's criminal investigation department and three police stations, including the Fengshan, Hunei and Kangshan stations, and two sub-stations under the Kangshan Police Station.
After questioning suspects, prosecutors yesterday morning recommended the detention of police sergeant Liao Min-jen (
Prosecutors said the pair might conspire with other defendants or witnesses to offer false testimony if released.
The prosecutors also said that three other police officers -- two from Kangshan and one from the Fengshan Police Station -- should be released on NT$100,000 bail and two operators of a video arcade business be released on NT$200,000 bail.
Prosecutors and investigators yesterday continued to question suspects and witnesses.
The Central News Agency reported that prosecutors have also targeted a number of county and township officials.
The Kaohsiung District Pros-ecutors' Office, meanwhile, said that in the past two days those questioned did not include elected officials.
Gambling, including video arcade games serving as gambling machines, is illegal. Prosecutors suspect that the five police officers invested in and run a mahjong gambling house.
Prosecutors also said that the police officers provided protection to two video arcades operating gambling machines by leaking information to shop owners before police checks.
It has been reported that video arcade games rigged for gambling had been found by police in March at one of the two shops, but the case was later covered up.
Media have also reported that some policemen bought stolen cars from gangs, but a spokesman for Kaohsiung prosecutors said he was unaware of the accusation.
Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) yesterday morning went to the police bureau to hear the facts in the case. The Chief Commissioner of the bureau, Yuan hsing-yi (袁行一), said the bureau would take disciplinary action against the officers involved in the scandal.
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