Prosecutors yesterday appealed a decision to grant Taipei City Councilor Chen Chung-wen (陳重文) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) bail following his detention over alleged corruption.
Chen is accused of accepting kickbacks from contactors in a NT$520 million (US$16.46 million) city project to install surveillance cameras. He posted bail of NT$2 million.
Investigators from the Ministry of Justice Agency Against Corruption yesterday detained Chen and Taiwan Intelligent Fiber Optic Network Consortium chairman Lee Ching-huang (李慶煌) and transferred them to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning.
Photo: CNA
Chen, a three-term city councilor representing Taipei’s Shilin (士林) and Beitou (北投) districts, faces charges of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), while Lee and eight other people are also listed as suspects, prosecutors said.
The Agency Against Corruption last year received information from a whistle-blower about a city government project to install online video streaming and data storage equipment for a closed-circuit television system at police stations, Chinese language media reported.
The whistle-blower said that the budget for the project was cut during a review by city councilors.
Lee asked Chen to alter the budget by using his authority to give the consortium greater profit potential, the whistle-blower said.
Investigators in December last year and January surveilled late-night meetings at which Lee allegedly handed over about NT$10 million to Chen, the reports said.
The consortium has won numerous contracts to supply cameras and other equipment installed at intersections, including a 25-year maintenance contract, they said.
Two other companies have been linked to the scandal, including an agro-biotech company headed by Chen’s wife, Pai Hui-ping (白惠萍), and a cloud storage company headed by Kang Li-chi (康立錡).
Pai was released after posting bail of NT$2 million and Kang was released on NT$300,000 bail.
In other news, Changzi Township (長治) Mayor Ku Chia-chuan (古佳川) on Thursday was convicted of corruption in a first ruling.
The Pingtung District Court said that Ku, an independent, had used government funds for personal expenses and forged receipts, handing him an eight-year sentence.
In line with new laws governing elected officials, Ku was suspended from his position.
Separately, Hsinchu County Councilor Cheng Yu-yun (鄭昱芸) lost her appeal in a corruption case, with the Supreme Court upholding an earlier conviction, meaning she must serve a three-year, eight-month prison sentence.
Investigators found that Cheng pocketed NT$218,000 of government subsidies allocated for her to hire office assistants.
She listed two friends as her assistants, but they never worked for her and she never paid them, investigators said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS