Authorities on Friday detained five people suspected of vote buying in Chiayi County.
The suspects were yesterday taken to the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning.
Officials said that a woman, surnamed Huang (黃), was apprehended in Shueitou Village (水頭) of Chiayi’s Shueishang Township (水上) after she allegedly gave money to three township residents.
A man, surnamed Lin (林), was later detained in the same area on suspicions of vote buying, they said.
Huang was found to be carrying NT$25,000 on her person, which, according to police, she admitted was for paying people in exchange of their promise to vote for a local legislative candidate, surnamed Lin (林), in the Jan. 16 elections.
Upon questioning, three township residents admitted to receiving money from Huang in exchange of voting for the candidate, with the amount they had received ranging between NT$500 and NT$1,000 per vote, according to the police.
The suspects were transferred to the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office for further investigation, while the three local residents were released after questioning.
Separately, police in Changhua County yesterday questioned more than 400 people after they were taken on a day trip to Nantou County, complete with a free lunch and a banquet dinner.
Officials said that they suspected the free bus tour offered to local residents was a form of vote buying, conducted by independent candidate Hsu Yung-chin (許永金), who is running for a legislative seat in Changhua County.
Event organizers allegedly used loudspeakers to urge the tour-goers to vote for Hsu and the bus tour was allegedly financed by Hsu’s uncle, who was summoned for questioning by investigators yesterday.
At press time last night, four people had been detained for further questioning.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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