Taichung prosecutors yesterday indicted former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) and his wife on corruption and forgery charges following last month’s judicial probe into alleged fraudulent transactions and illegal acquisition of public land to build a NT$90 million (US$2.9 million) family mansion in the city.
Evidence gathered by Taichung prosecutors and the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau indicated that Yen forged documents and receipts to collect wages for an office assistant during his second term as a lawmaker from 2016 to 2020, the indictment read.
Investigators last month searched Yen’s mansion and offices. Yen and his wife, Chen Li-ling (陳麗淩), were summoned for questioning and released on bail of NT$10 million and NT$5 million respectively.
Photo: CNA
Prosecutors said that when he was a lawmaker, Yen hired Lin Chin-fu (林進福), the owner of a construction company affiliated to Yen’s family businesses, to work as a “legislative office assistant” and received NT$960,000 in wages from January 2018 to January 2020.
However, evidence showed that Lin spent most of that period in Taichung managing his business and did not work as an office assistant in Taipei, prosecutors said, adding that they have evidence of Yen personally collecting and using the assistant’s monthly wage.
The wage, in addition to filings for overtime work and other expenses, amounted to NT$1.08 million, prosecutors said.
They said that investigators had uncovered receipts showing that Lin had bought a Maserati sedan, registered under his company, which is under Yen’s possession for his family’s use.
The indictment pertaining to the mansion charged Yen and his wife with forgery, and his younger brother of illegally occupying public land and related offenses.
Prosecutors said that the sale of the mansion last year, when it came under scrutiny during Yen’s legislative by-election campaign, was fake as Yen had sold it at half of its market value to Taichung-based Jazz Space Design company owner, a woman surnamed Chang (張).
Prosecutors said that it was a fraudulent transaction, as Yen still has furniture at the mansion and family members were seen at the property.
Evidence also showed that Yen, his wife and Lin had forked out NT$45 million as a “loan” to Chang to help her with the “bogus purchase” of the mansion, prosecutors said.
Yen yesterday denied any wrongdoing, saying he had not broken the law and that he was being politically prosecuted to prevent him from running in next year’s legislative election. He has been nominated by the KMT in an attempt to regain his old seat in Taichung.
KMT Taichung City Chapter officials released a statement saying that as the litigation has not been settled, it would not affect the party’s nomination of Yen.
It urged people to vote for Yen and use their ballot to fight an “unjust” system.
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
RSS