Seven military servicepeople and four contractors stand accused of taking kickbacks and illegally selling military equipment, the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday.
Prosecutor Chen Chien-liang (陳建良) on Monday in coordination with other law enforcement agencies conducted raids in 40 locations to gather evidence in one of the largest military corruption probes in the past few years.
Army captain Huang Yen-sheng (黃巖昇) from the 542nd Armored Brigade in Hsinchu County, as well as six non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and several contractors were summoned for questioning.
Prosecutors said they have sufficient evidence to file corruption and other charges against the suspects.
They have applied to the New Taipei City District Court to detain Huang along with four of the NCOs and four contractors on the grounds that they present a flight risk and could destroy evidence, prosecutors said.
In addition to the armored brigade, raids were carried out at the Military Combined Maintenance Depot, Army Missile and Electro-Optics Depot, Army 3rd Northern Regional Support Command, Army Armor Training Command and Navy Logistics Support Command.
The suspects reportedly received NT$150,000 to NT$200,000 in kickbacks from contractors for each transaction, Chen said.
Although the contractors were licensed scrap dealers and recycling operators approved by military authorities, the suspects allegedly provided them with items that were not listed as surplus or having expired, contravening military regulations, Chen added.
Fraudulent documentation was also found during the raids, with the suspects allegedly colluding with recycling weighing stations to produce bogus figures to circumvent military regulations on surplus or expired items and the amount permitted to be sold as scrap or for recycling, Chen said.
Besides contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), the suspects could be charged with misappropriating public property, breach of trust in receiving bribes and breach of trust in offering bribes, Chen said.
“The illegal activities include under-reporting missing items and listing operational equipment in good usage as expired or for scrap,” Chen said. “The contractors reassembled the equipment and sold them on the black market for profit.”
Investigators are trying to determine whether the contractors sold the equipment back to the military and whether the military personnel had accepted gifts or were given sexual services.
The Ministry of National Defense released a statement saying that officers in pursuit of making small profits have harmed the reputation of the armed forces.
“We demand strict monitoring and evaluation of ethical behavior from officials in the procurement department or those who conduct business with the outside... Those who are found to have contravened the law would be dismissed from their jobs,” the ministry said.
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