Four men suspected of splattering the kitchen of a Taipei restaurant with chicken feces last month were hired by an unknown person from China, prosecutors said yesterday.
On Oct. 16, a man reportedly entered Aegis restaurant — which provides employment to Hong Kong political refugees — and splashed the kitchen and a female employee with chicken feces.
The restaurant has been closed since and is scheduled to reopen on Nov. 11.
The four suspects — Mo Fan (莫凡) and Chiang Chi-jung (江啟榮), aged 25, and brothers Lee Chao-ching (李昭慶) and Lee Chao-hsin (李昭信), 26 and 24 respectively — were arrested last month and are being held incommunicado, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said.
The four men, all Taiwanese, were hired indirectly by an unidentified Chinese person to carry out the attack, prosecutors said.
In a bid to shut down the restaurant, the person allegedly contacted a Taiwanese man surnamed Chen (陳), who lives in China, to find people to carry out the attack, prosecutors said.
Chen allegedly contacted Lee Chao-hsin through social media in September and paid him NT$30,000 by wire transfer to prepare the attack, prosecutors said.
Lee Chao-hsin allegedly recruited three other people, and they visited the restaurant several times, including on Oct. 15, prosecutors said.
A bucket of chicken feces, feathers and bones was obtained by the Lee brothers, who gave it to Mo, prosecutors said.
The Lee brothers and Chiang went to Aegis in a friend’s car, and one of them stayed outside as a lookout, while the others went in to eat, prosecutors said.
Mo arrived at the restaurant at noon, allegedly tossed the contents of the bucket over the cashier’s counter and into the kitchen, and ran off, while the lookout recorded the incident on a smartphone, prosecutors said.
The video was then allegedly sent to Chen, who wired another NT$30,000 to Lee Chao-hsin’s account, and half of the money was transferred to Mo, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors charged the four with intimidation, property damage, public insult and physical injury, and said their actions had caused significant harm and fear among Hong Kongers who have fled to Taiwan for fear of political persecution.
Police are still trying to locate Chen and the Chinese national, prosecutors said.
The restaurant was opened on April 19 by Daniel Wong Kwok-tung (黃國桐), a Hong Kong lawyer and politician who provided free legal services to demonstrators arrested during pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong last year.
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