Four people were released on bail yesterday amid a probe into alleged corruption over a NT$110 million (US$3.8 million) contract for work at a Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) station in Hsinchu County.
Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office officials said that 15 locations in Taipei, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were searched on Thursday and 15 people have been questioned in connection with the case.
The investigation was launched into the tender process for a contract to the reconstruction of the station in Sinfong Township (新豐), which was awarded to Kaohsiung-based Hua Sheng Engineering Construction Co.
Photo: Chen Wei-tsu, Taipei Times
Hua Sheng owner Su Cheng-ta (蘇成達), TRA Department of Electrical Engineering head Chou Tsu-te (周祖德), TRA Taipei maintenance section chief Lin Chao-cheng (林昭正) and TRA project inspector Lu Hsing-hung (盧星宏) face charges of forgery and other breaches of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), prosecutors said.
The four men were released after posting bail of NT$300,000 each.
The three TRA officials are accused of colluding with Su to falsify budget documents after the project was awarded to Taoyuan-based Kuo Kung Construction Co for NT$110 million.
Work began in April 2008 to reconstruct parts of the railway station and add new facilities, prosecutors said.
Chou and Lin colluded to hand the project over to Hua Sheng, citing delays and other issues that resulted in the agreement with Kuo Kung being terminated in October 2008, prosecutors said.
The two men reopened the public tender, which was won by Hua Sheng at a reduced bid of NT$100 million, prosecutors said.
Chou and Lin allegedly colluded with Lu to produce falsified records, which led to Hua Sheng securing the contract, prosecutors said, adding that the case involves about NT$5 million in illegal profit.
Kuo Kung was riled by the termination of its work agreement and filed a lawsuit against the TRA to secure a refund and compensation on top.
The High Court ruled in the company’s favor and ordered the TRA to pay it NT$4.94 million.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS