The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office yesterday indicted a current and former police officer for allegedly accepting bribes from brothels in their district.
According to the indictment, Chen Kuo-hao (
On Nov. 23, 2000, they arrived at a hotel in their district, pretended to be customers and called for prostitutes. When two Chinese prostitutes arrived, Chen and Lin then showed their police identification and arrested the two prostitutes, the indictment said.
However, the two allegedly accepted bribes from the hotel owner instead of turning the owner and the two prostitutes over to the prosecutors' office.
The indictment said that Chen and Lin also accepted bribes from different brothels by using the same procedure over the past two years.
The two have denied the allegations at investigative hearings.
Prosecutors recommended that Chen receive a 10-year jail term while suggesting that Lin receive an eight-year sentence.
"Prosecutors decided to request long sentences for both of them because they never admitted to their crimes and never expressed regret for what the did, while evidence has said it all," said Chen Hung-ta (
"Plus, Chen is a former police officer and Lin is still on the job. Our investigation showed that they have violated the law -- something they were not supposed to as law-enforcement officers. That's another reason why prosecutors requested long sentences for them," Chen Hung-ta said.
The bribery case first was first made public at a press conference held by former New Party Taipei City Councilor Lee Hsin (李新) last September. At the press conference, Lee played a video tape of Chen Kuo-hao accepting money at a hotel/brothel.
According to the former city councilor, the video tape was provided by a secret source offering tips and the tape was originally recorded from the hotel's closed-circuit security system.
Chen quit his job on Sept. 27 last year and declared that he was innocent. Since leaving the force he has worked running a car wash in Taipei City.
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