Prosecutors on Thursday questioned former Tainan City Council speaker Kuo Hsin-liang (郭信良) and dozens of others over graft and profiteering allegations involving a development project, while some opposition party members supported Kuo.
Launched with searches at more than 10 locations around Tainan on Thursday, public prosecutors coordinated the operation with Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) units in southern Taiwan to gather evidence at Kuo’s residence, constituency offices and at his office at Tainan City Hall, as he serves as an independent city councilor.
Investigators also summoned the other principal figure in the case, Kao Ching-chien (高進見), warden for Tiansi Borough (佃西) in Tainan’s Annan District (安南), with prosecutors applying to have both men detained at a bail hearing yesterday.
Photo: Tsai Wen-chu, Taipei Times
The case reportedly centered on the rezoning of an agricultural plot into construction for residential building, for which Kuo and Kao allegedly received an estimated NT$10 million (US$320,307) in kickbacks from the developer.
Kuo served as city council speaker with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but was reportedly at odds with Tainan’s mainstream DPP groups, headed by Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) and Vice President William Lai (賴清德), a former Tainan mayor.
Seen as a maverick in Tainan politics, Kuo ran for re-election as council speaker in December last year against DPP candidate Chiu Li-li (邱莉莉) and Lin Chih-chan (林志展) for deputy speaker, then quit the party after he lost that race to serve as an independent city councilor.
Chiu and Lin have since been investigated following an accusartion of alledgedly rigging the contest.
Prosecutors said they had received tip-offs alleging bribe-taking and kickbacks on the Tiansi Borough land rezoning and development starting in 2013, and that one developer reportedly colluded with local officials to buy plots, with allegations of then-councilor Kuo demanding bribes.
Reports quoting locals said that the plots in Annan District through the rezoning process rose 20 times in value, from about NT$10,000 per ping (3.3 square meters) to NT$200,000 per ping.
The corruption probe led to the unusual situation for several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members to voice support for the former DPP member Kuo, as they alleged political interference in pressuring the judiciary to investigate.
Tsai Yu-hui (蔡育輝), KMT secretary-general for the Tainan City Council party caucus, yesterday decried the investigation as “revenge” against Kuo for running against Chiu Li-li, and also for Kuo’s long-running feuds against local DPP stalwarts.
DPP caucus Tainan spokesman Lee Chung-han (李宗翰) accused Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials for taking up petty political caims to meddle in the independent judiciary.
In other news, Penghu County Council Speaker Liu Chen Zhao-ling (劉陳昭玲) and her secretary were freed on bail on Wednesday following their indictment a day earlier for allegedly soliciting bribes from other local government officials.
Liu Chen of the KMT and her secretary, Chen Shu-mei (陳淑美), were released after posting bail of NT$10 million and NT$500,000 respectively, and were barred from traveling overseas.
The Penghu District Court approved their release on the grounds that both had been detained since March and had already admitted to their crimes, and were therefore unlikely to violate the terms of their bail agreement.
According to an indictment filed on Tuesday by prosecutors, Liu Chen instructed Chen to solicit bribes from officials in Penghu’s public transportation management office, education department and fire and public health bureaus between 2017 and 2021.
Specifically, Liu Chen and Chen pressured officials to pay them “lobbying fees” of between NT$100,000 and NT$1 million in return for favors, and, in one instance, paid Liu Chen NT$150,000 for her to buy a used luxury handbag, the indictment said.
In total, Liu Chen and Chen are alleged to have received NT$1.76 million in bribes, all of which was seized by prosecutors.
At the court hearing on Wednesday, Penghu District Prosecutors’ Office lead prosecutor Su Heng-yi (蘇恒毅) said he had no opinion on whether the suspects should be granted bail or remain in detention.
However, after his office conducted an initial round of searches in February, details of their investigation were leaked to Liu Chen, he said, showing that there is still a risk of interference in the judicial process that the court should “take seriously.”
Chen’s defense lawyer said the leaker had contacted Liu Chen directly, and that Chen was not involved.
Prior to her arrest in March, 67-year-old Liu Chen was a dominant figure in Penghu politics, having served more than 40 years in the county council, including 20 years as the body’s speaker.
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