A legislator yesterday panned the police for their failure to catch a car thief and retrieve a stolen vehicle before it was sold to a new owner.
"The police have done nothing for the victim ever since the car was reported stolen," PFP Legislator Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) said at a press conference at her office in the Legislative Yuan.
Chin said she had been asked by the owner of the stolen vehicle, Weng Shun-fu (翁順福), to hold a press conference because he was unhappy with the way police had handled the case.
Weng's wife, identified only by her surname, Lee, told the story on her husband's behalf yesterday.
Lee said that Weng's 1997 Mercedes S320 sedan, which was registered under his company's name, was stolen from their garage parking space in Chiayi City on March 10. The theft had been reported immediately to the police.
On March 12, a man called the couple, demanding a NT$150,000 ransom for the car. The couple wired the money to two bank accounts. But they never got their car back.
On Apr. 19, Weng's insurance company paid him NT$772,965 in compensation, based on the car's depreciation. The couple had paid NT$3.2 million when they bought the car in 1997.
Nearly 10 weeks later, on July 1, the Chiayi Police Department told the couple that somebody claiming to be the car's owner reported the vehicle had been found and closed the case at Pingtung County Police Department's Chaochou Precinct.
Chaochou Precinct Chief Chen Chi-jung (陳志榮) insists his officers did everything by the book. But he admitted that errors might have been made.
"According to our case file, a man, claiming to be the owner of the missing car, showed up at our precinct around 10am on July 1," Chen said. "He said that his missing car had been found and wanted to close the case."
Chen said that the officer on duty had examined the car before completing the necessary paperwork. The officer noted in the record that the car's license plates were missing. The vehicle identification number, however, was the same as the missing Mercedes.
The officer asked the man for the receipt police give a car owner who has reported a missing vehicle and for the vehicle's registration.
"The man told our officer that he had lost the receipt and that he had not retrieved the vehicle registration which had been in the car when it was stolen," Chen said.
"He produced a fake photo-identity card and a fake company registration document. In addition, he insisted on using his chop instead of a fingerprint on the file record, so we have no way to track this man, who is now suspected of being the thief," Chen said.
The precinct chief was unable to explain why the correct procedures had not been followed or why the man's documents were verified in his presence.
The same man apparently also managed to convince the Pingtung County Department of Motor Vehi-cles (DMV) that he was the real owner. According to the DMV, someone apparently used forged documents to report the car's license plates missing. A new pair of plates were issued on July 1.
On July 11, the insurance company called Weng to tell him the Mercedes had been sold to a man called Kuo (
The company also demanded Weng repay the NT$772,965 in compensation because the car had been found.
"How could the police fail to catch a suspect who was using fake identification cards and documents? Can't the police tell? What's wrong with them?" Chin said.
The lawmaker said that besides being upset about losing the car, "the couple are upset about the attitude of the police."
She urged the police to contact the car's new owner to see if he can help them catch the thief as well as help the couple get the vehicle back.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as