Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙), former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Yang Chi-hsiung (楊吉雄) and two Yilan government officials were yesterday released on bail after being questioned in relation to a corruption case.
An investigation by Yilan prosecutors and the Ministry of Justice’s Agency Against Corruption has named Lin, a KMT member, as a suspect for the alleged possession of assets of unknown origin in connection with property development projects in the county’s Luodong Township (羅東).
Prosecutors told the media following the bail hearing that the judges saw sufficient evidence of Lin’s involvement in the case, but had no need to place her under judicial detention.
Photo: CNA
They released her on bail of NT$800,000 (US$28,690), while Yang and his younger brother were released after posting bail of NT$1.5 million each.
Following questioning, Lin Zi-miao’s son, Lin Yu-tse (林佑澤), was released on NT$2 million bail, while the county government’s Economic Affairs Department section head Lung Fei-chih (龍非池) was released on NT$150,000 bail.
The court released Lin’s daughter, Lin Yi-ling (林羿伶), and the county’s Bureau of Agriculture Director Kang Li-ho (康立和) without bail.
Prosecutors said they are looking at alleged contraventions of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), which could lead to charges of illegal profiteering by civil servants, along with tampering and destroying evidence, against Lin Zi-miao and the other suspects.
Investigators have examined several property development projects over allegations of profiteering through value-added tax exemptions in 2019, prosecutors said, adding that some aspects of the plans were altered in the following year.
Several millions of New Taiwan dollars were allegedly transferred in and out of a bank account under Lin Zi-miao’s control in the past few years, they said, adding that Lin had increased her wealth and assets to levels far beyond what her salary could allow.
Agency Against Corruption officials and Yilan prosecutors in the middle of last month conducted searches and served summons to more than 30 people for questioning as persons of interest and witnesses in the case. Two officials have since been detained: Yilan County Department of Economic Affairs Acting Director Wu Chao-chin (吳朝琴) and the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Affairs Director Wu Tung-yuan (吳東原).
Others taken in for questioning last month included other county officials, along with Luodong Township (羅東) Mayor Wu Chiu-ling (吳秋齡) and former Yilan County councilor Liu Shih-chun (劉石純), both of the KMT.
They also included Lin’s daughter, Lin Yi-lin, and former KMT National Assembly representative for the county Lin Shu-mei (林束梅), who is Lin Zi-miao’s cousin.
Lin Zi-miao did not answer reporters’ questions upon her release yesterday, while Yang said the probe is political persecution against himself, Lin Zi-miao and other officials.
The KMT released a statement accusing the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of perverting the justice system as a tool to persecute the opposition and taint KMT politicians ahead of local elections later this year.
DPP Yilan County Chapter director Chen Chun-yu (陳俊宇) said: “KMT officials always decry political persecution when their politicians get implicated in corruption cases, no matter in an election year or not.”
“We ask the judiciary to conduct a thorough probe of Lin Zi-miao’s personal assets of unknown origin, as people want to have a county commissioner with clean ethics, and not use her office to benefit herself and her family,” he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS