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.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS