The Shihlin District Court yesterday approved a request by the National Property Administration (NPA) to freeze all property and savings under the name of Liu Cheng-chih (劉政池), the brother of Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻).
The NPA, which is suing Liu Cheng-chih for illegally occupying public land, had filed a writ of attachment to ensure that he does not liquidate his assets during the legal proceedings. Government estimates put the total value of property, cash and savings under Liu Cheng-chih’s name at about NT$4 million (US$132,000).
Liu Cheng-chih is accused of appropriating about 1,465 ping (4,843m2) of public land to build a mansion on Yangmingshan (陽明山), the government agency said, adding that he had illegally cut down trees and removed earth from the site.
The estimated cost of restoring the land on which Liu had built his mansion is about NT$4 million, it said.
The government will apply the strictest standard of compensation once it has completed documenting the type and number of trees Liu Cheng-chih had cut down in the process of building his mansion, it said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Ho Chih-wei (何志偉) said the agency’s action did little to return justice to the public.
The illegal occupation of public land was a premeditated act and the Liu family had occupied the land for nearly a decade, which means it had spent only NT$400,000 a year to stay on nearly 5,000m2 of public land, Ho said.
The agency has failed in its duty because the writ of attachment means little to the Liu family, he said, adding that it appears that the government agency is trying to let the Lius off the hook.
According to the indictment, Liu Cheng-chih bought the land beside Sulphur Canyon on Yangmingshan in 1998 and rented public land from the NPA in 1999 for NT$22,860 per month.
Liu Cheng-chih had also applied for bank loans beyond his means and had allegedly asked Liu Cheng-hung to lobby the Yangmingshan National Park Administration for a building permit as his original plan exceeded park regulations, the indictment read.
Liu Cheng-chih began “legal” construction on the mansion in 2004, but asked Chungyoutong Co to “secretly” install 12 large shipping containers — 16.15m in length, 2.44m in width and 259cm high — under the mansion to serve as its cellar, the indictment read.
Although the Yangmingshan National Park Administration discovered the buried crates during construction, Liu Cheng-chih sought to “sidestep” the issue by suing Chungyoutung Co for fraud, it said.
The whole incident was brought to light by Ho late last year.
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