Yunlin County Council Speaker Shen Tsung-lung (沈宗隆) resigned yesterday amid an ongoing corruption investigation into NT$26 million (US$806,977) in alleged bribes involving wind farm projects.
A member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Shen headed up a list of five people indicted in late July on corruption charges for allegedly taking bribes from Wpd Taiwan Energy Co in exchange for helping the company obtain licenses to start construction of 640 megawatt wind power facilities along the coast of Yunlin County.
“Please forgive for any shortcomings in the past, when I held the speaker’s office,” he said in his resignation speech. “I am leaving this office, but I will retain my position as a county councilor. We shall still work together here at this council hall. Let us continue to oversee government programs, and push for the construction of local infrastructure projects and industrial parks.”
Photo: CNA
Shen first announced his resignation for “personal reasons” when addressing a council meeting yesterday morning, then afterward told reporters he was stepping down “to reduce public speculation” about the bribery case.
An election for a new speaker is to be held within a month, chosen from the current sitting councilors, the Yunlin County Council said.
To be elected speaker, a candidate must secure the support of more than half of councilors who vote and a minimum of 50 percent of councilors must vote for the result to be valid.
After wrapping up their investigation in July, Yunlin County prosecutors indicted Shen and the other suspects on bribery charges.
They alleged that illicit money passed hands when the project started in 2019, with Shen allegedly demanding bribes from Wpd Taiwan Energy, a subsidiary of Wpd GmbH, a wind farm and solar energy developer based in Bremen, Germany.
Also indicted on bribery charges in the case were Yunlin County Councilor Wang Yu-min (王又民), two executives of Wpd Taiwan Energy, and Chung Ching-lang (鍾慶郎), who prosecutors suspect acted as a middleman.
A court filing said that Wpd cooperated with local businesses in a consortium to build an offshore wind farm, but was met by opposition from local residents, community leaders and some Yunlin County councilors, who held protests and vowed to block the project.
The protests led to the Yunlin County Government rescinding its support for the wind farm project.
Wpd Taiwan Energy said at the time in 2020 that it had difficulty applying for construction permits and operating licenses, putting the project way behind schedule, the filing said.
Company executives allegedly contacted Shen and Wang Yu-min to exercise their political authority to monitor progress and apply pressure on government officials to expedite the approval process and grant the permits needed to start construction, the filing said.
Following the indictment, public prosecutors said that Shen and Chung had admitted to playing a role in the alleged bribery and had handed over all the illegally obtained money.
Wpd Taiwan Energy has been rebranded as Skyborn Renewable Taiwan Co (天豐新能源) in Taiwan as the project operator after the company was taken over by Global Infrastructure Partners, a global infrastructure investor.
The company has said it is cooperating with the authorities on an investigation into alleged bribery concerning the offshore wind project off Yunlin.
Additional reporting by CNA
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