Investigators probing the alleged abduction of KMT legislator Huang Hsien-chou (黃顯洲) yesterday arrested the brother of the prime suspect in the case, Lin Ann (林安), who denied involvement in the crime or knowledge of his sister's location.
Huang revealed Wednesday that he was kidnapped by underworld figures between Dec. 27 and Monday, during which he was drugged, tied up, held at gun point and robbed of NT$800,000 in cash.
But law-enforcement officers suspect that the outgoing lawmaker may have been the victim of a sex scam, although Huang linked the incident to his attempt to mediate a financial dispute on behalf of a constituent.
Acting on clues from witnesses, police tracked down Chan Fu-shun (詹富順), 27, the younger brother of Chan Hui-hua (詹惠華), who checked into the hotel room where Huang was reportedly held hostage for four days.
Twenty-nine-year-old Chan Hui-hau (Lin Ann's real name) is painted by the Chinese-language media as a "gorgeous" call girl who is "active" in political circles.
Later in the day, she said through her lawyer that Huang owed her over NT$1 million and that they maintained a romantic relationship for two years.
She has been involved in financial fraud before. Lin would come forward and tell her side of the story if necessary, her lawyer said.
Her mentally retarded brother admitted to seeing Huang in the hotel room in the Grand Hyatt Taipei but added that he left minutes later, unaware of what transpired there, investigators said.
The younger Chan said he did not know the whereabouts of his sister, adding that he didn't believe his sister had committed the alleged wrongdoing.
According to Huang, he arrived in the five-star hotel room in early hours of Dec. 27 at the request of Lin Ann.
The lawmaker, who failed to retain his seat representing Taichung City in the Dec. 1 elections, said he lost consciousness soon after drinking a glass of cola.
He said that when he woke up days later, he found himself wearing only his underwear.
His kidnappers, Huang recounted, took his ATM card and made away with NT$800,000 from his account while he was unconscious.
But law-enforcement officers noted that the incident reeked of a sex fraud, as Lin has been found guilty of similar offenses before.
They also raised doubts over Huang's testimony that he was trying to help his constituent, noting that a hotel room is not a normal venue for such services.
Still, his alleged abduction raised eyebrows in the political community, with Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
RSS