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.
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