Five prosecutors have led the way in investigating and charging 40 people in the bribery scandal stemming from last year's Kaohsiung City Council speakership election.
According to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office, 15 prosecutors have worked on the case but five of them were key to the investigation.
These five are Hsiao Yu-cheng (蕭宇誠), Chuang Jung-sung (莊榮松), Lee Jing-wen (李靜文), Hung Hsin-shu (洪信旭) and Yeh Shu-wen (葉淑文).
The 48-year-old Hsiao is the eldest of the five and the team leader.
Hsiao entered the Law Department at National Chung Hsing University in 1980 after he retired from the marines as a captain.
Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office spokesman Chou Chang-chin (周章欽), High Court Judge Lu Tai-lang (呂太郎) and TSU Legislator Su Ying-kuei (蘇盈貴) were his college classmates.
Chou said that Hsiao graduated from college with honors.
"He played all the time but he still did well on exams," he said. "This told us that he is very smart and good at outlining the materials he needs to absorb, which is an important skill as a law enforcement officer."
After graduation, Hsiao was hired as a clerk at the Tax Bureau, where he worked for four years.
Hsiao said money was one of the reasons he wanted to change careers.
"I am not that aggressive when it comes to money, but, since Su kept encouraging me, I decided to take the national exam so that I could become a lawyer, a prosecutor or a judge. I admit that making more money was one of my concerns when I decided to devote myself to this field. I was dead broke," Hsiao said. "Su said that it would be easier to make more money if I passed the exam. So I did."
Hsiao passed the national exam for judicial officials, which includes prosecutors and judges, in 1989. After the 18-month training course for judicial officials, he became a prosecutor.
Chuang is 11 years younger than Hsiao. He received a bachelor's degree from the Law Department at Fu Jen Catholic University in 1988. He passed the bar exam immediately after graduation.
In 1994 he completed the training course for judicial officials and became a judge. Four years later he became a prosecutor.
As a former judge, Chuang was able to discuss with his colleagues from a judge's point of view what kinds of evidence or statements would be strong enough to be presented in court.
Chuang said that a judge's job is to review the facts while a prosecutor's job is to discover those facts.
"I love being a prosecutor more than being a judge," Chuang said. "A judge's job is to review the facts that prosecutors presented and decide whether the defendants are guilty. However, a prosecutor has to find the evidence ... it's more challenging."
Hung is a year younger than Chuang and is also a graduate of Fu Jen's Law Department.
Hung's colleagues call him watchdog because, when dealing with suspects and investigating a case, he is aggressive and keeps fighting until the last minute.
"I will not let go of any suspects or clues if I do not have what I want. It is my job to find the truth," he said.
Lee, with a bachelor's degree in law from Tunghai University, finished her training course in the same year as Chuang.
In addition to being a prosecutor, Lee, 35, is also a licensed banker who worked for the Kaohsiung Bank for five months before joining the force.
"Being a banker and a prosecutor are totally different things, [but] they are both challenging to me," she said.
Yeh joined the force in 1993. Her role in the team was as Hsiao's assistant. In addition, she became a member of the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office's Black Gold Investigation Section last year.
Yeh is also a graduate student in National Chung Cheng University's law program.
Yeh's work performance was highlighted by her colleagues. But she has always tried to keep a low profile.
"I am just doing my job," she said.
The five-person team finished its investigation and indicted 40 people in the case on April 7. Thirty-four of the defendants are Kaohsiung City councilors.
Prosecutors are seeking prison terms for the 34, including council Speaker Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄) and Vice Speaker Tsai Sung-hsiung (蔡松雄), of between six and 30 months.
Prosecutors suggested a 30-month sentence for Chu and 28 months for Tsai.
On Dec. 25 last year, Chu won the speakership after gaining 25 of 44 votes.
Chu is accused of having bought votes from his fellow councilors for NT$5 million each.
According to the indictment, independent Councilor Tsai Ching-yuan (蔡慶源) had prepared to run for the speakership by paying five councilors NT$5 million each for their votes through PFP Councilor Lee Jung-chung (李榮宗).
On Dec. 24, after determining that he was destined to fail in the race, Tsai met with Chu and persuaded Chu to cover his expenses in exchange for backing Chu's bid.
Meanwhile, Tsai agreed to give up his bid for the speakership and sold five votes, for which he had paid NT$5 million each, to Chu.
Of the 34 councilors, 10 are DPP members, 10 belong to the KMT, six to the PFP and eight are independents.
The six defendants who are not councilors include DPP Legislator Lin Chin-hsing (林進興), former Kaohsiung Civil Affairs Bureau director Wang Wen-cheng (王文正) and the director of Chu's campaign office, Hsien Chi-yu (賢繼宇).
Wang and Hsien allegedly helped Chu distribute bribe money.
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