The National Police Agency and judicial investigators yesterday presented reports on efforts across the nation to prevent “black money” from influencing today’s presidential and legislative elections.
There have been 15 cases of legislative candidates allegedly buying votes or participating in other forms of voter bribery, with 123 people questioned, two indictments handed down and four people detained, an agency report said.
A nationwide sweep uncovered 199 cases of alleged illegal gambling, resulting so far in the indictment of four proprietors in central Taiwan, it said, adding that more indictments would be handed down in the coming weeks, with suspected proprietors of gambling operations facing illegal gambling charges under the Criminal Code and the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), and suspected gamblers facing charges under the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法).
Photo courtesy of Jincheng Police Precinct
Operators of a major illegal gambling ring in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢) have been arrested, the city’s police reported on Thursday.
The raids arrested 18 suspects connected with illegal betting on the elections and seized NT$205 million (US$6.83 million) in illegal bets, police said, adding that proprietors provided the odds, communication links, devices and programs for people to place wagers.
A man surnamed Wu (吳) headed what is considered to be the largest illegal gambling ring uncovered in northern Taiwan, they said.
People betting on the results of the presidential election used the code word “fish” (魚) for Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, and “green vegetable” (青菜) for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is seeking re-election, they added.
Wu was among the people detained for questioning, while an unspecified amount of cash, mobile phones, fax machines and account books were seized, police said.
Police in Kinmen County said they are questioning a suspect surnamed Lee (李) regarding an alleged illegal gambling operation running election bets, adding that raids on Thursday led to the seizure of NT$270,000 in cash, notebook computers, mobile phones, account books and 36 wager receipts.
Judicial officials are also investigating sources of the money wagered in the illegal operations, as pundits and some candidates have said that most of the money was coming from China through underground banks and remittance services.
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