Nine police officers have been listed as suspects in a bribery investigation involving car rental firms and motor vehicle offices in northern Taiwan, including one officer who allegedly received more than NT$1 million (US$33,568) in bribes from more than 100 people.
The officers allegedly received bribes from drivers who had been caught speeding and were at risk of having their licenses suspended for six months, for helping them exploit a loophole in Article 12 of the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例).
The article states that drivers “operating a vehicle without license plates … shall be fined from NT$3,600 to NT$10,800.”
Instead of issuing a speeding ticket, the officers allegedly fined the drivers the minimum amount stated in the article and colluded with staff at local motor vehicle offices to expedite the issuance of new licenses, asking drivers for a bribe of NT$10,000 apiece.
Most bribes allegedly came from car rental firms and drivers of luxury vehicles.
New Taipei City prosecutors on Thursday coordinated searches in 29 locations, after investigating dozens of police officers in New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Hsinchu County over two years.
Prosecutors said they had been tipped off by other officers and staff at motor vehicle offices.
They questioned 79 people, 41 of whom were listed as witnesses or persons of interest, and 38 — including the officers, car rental firm staff and motor vehicle office employees — were listed as suspects, prosecutors said.
The officers under investigation are from New Taipei City’s Banciao (板橋) and Shulin (樹林) districts, Taoyuan’s Pingjhen (平鎮) and Bade (八德) districts, and Hsinchu County’s Jhubei City (竹北), they said.
Separately, Hualien County prosecutors have searched the office and residence of a deputy squad captain in Fonglin District (鳳林), who is suspected of colluding with an illegal logging operation.
Prosecutors said the officer, who heads the precinct’s criminal investigation section, allegedly helped members of the ring fell trees and collect driftwood in the Matai-an River (馬太鞍溪), including in December last year, by transporting timber in a police vehicle.
Prosecutors are questioning witnesses, and the officer and ring members are to face charges for breaching the Forestry Act (森林法), they said.
Netflix on Wednesday said it is to charge NT$100 more per month for each user that is not part of the same household. Under the plan, the streaming service is to limit viewership to people who live in the same household. If a member wishes to add people outside of their address, they must pay NT$100 more per person every month. No additional viewers can be added to the NT$270 per month “basic” account. “Standard” accounts (NT$330) can add one user, while “premium” (NT$390) accounts can add two users. The company has said that people in the same household would still be able
PRESSURE POINT: Beijing might seek to lean on Musk to prevent his SpaceX from providing Taiwan access to its Starlink satellite system, ‘The Economist’ said Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) called out Elon Musk on Twitter, saying the value of democracy transcends that of money after the Tesla CEO said that China was likely to “integrate” Taiwan. Asked in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday last week if “China would make a move to take control of Taiwan,” Musk said that “the official policy of China is that Taiwan should be integrated... One does not need to read between the lines.” “There is a certain inevitability to the situation,” he added. “That is their policy, and I think you should take their word seriously,” Musk said. Regarding
VIGILANCE: The mask mandate would remain in effect at healthcare facilities, healthcare-related institutes and senior welfare facilities due to high infection risks there The mask mandate would be extended next month for three types of venues, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday as it reported that the average daily number of hospitalized COVID-19 cases increased by more than 30 percent last week. Local COVID-19 cases last week rose to an average of 204 daily hospitalizations, an increase of 32.5 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. The number of prescriptions for oral anti-viral drugs to treat COVID-19 also increased to 23,503 courses — 17,424 courses of Paxlovid and 6,079 courses of molnupiravir. The average positivity rate
GROWING FAST: China continues to outpace the US in its production and commissioning of ships, as it seeks to expand ‘far seas operations,’ an ex-US Navy captain said China continued to increase its naval capacity last year, indicating that it is seeking to bolster its ability to invade Taiwan, a retired US Navy captain said. In an article published in this month’s issue of the US Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine, retired US Navy Captain James Fanell wrote that China commissioned 10 warships and one submarine last year, and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) was continuing to commission the most annual tonnage globally, as it has done for at least the past five years. The PLAN is also outproducing the US Navy in total number of ships, tonnage and
RSS