Taipei City Councilor Chen Chung-wen (陳重文) was indicted on Friday for allegedly fraudulently obtaining NT$3.21 million (US$98,075) from a government contract.
After several months of investigation, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen, 46, who represents Taipei’s Shilin (士林) and Beitou (北投) districts for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), under the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
The case involves Taiwan Intelligent Fiber Optic Network Consortium (TAIFO), which was awarded a 25-year contract by the Taipei City Government in 2011 to build a fiber optic network in the capital, as part of a smart city project, when Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) of the KMT was mayor from 2006 to 2014.
Photo: Chen Tsai-ling, Taipei Times
Recognizing that there were lucrative profits to be gained from TAIFO’s relationship with the city government, Chen and a friend named Kang Li-chi (康立錡) set up a new company last year to partake in the project, the prosecutors said.
Kang was named as its director, although Chen was the real boss, the prosecutors added.
This firm received various contracts connected to TAIFO’s business deals with the city government, prosecutors said.
From April to June last year, Chen pressured the Taipei Department of Social Welfare on multiple occasions to award TAIFO a contract to install cloud-based surveillance systems at the city’s public childcare care centers, prosecutors said.
With the contract awarded to TAIFO, due to Chen’s pressure, the company then subcontracted the project to Kang, who passed it to Vqorder Co, a New Taipei-based company also registered under his name, to carry out the work, prosecutors said.
Through this arrangement, each party involved was able to take a share of the contract, prosecutors said, adding that Chen allegedly made NT$3.21 million in illegal gains through the deal, prosecutors said.
On Friday, Chen and Kang were indicted for corruption and intent to directly or indirectly seek unlawful gains, they added.
Meanwhile, a separate case which began in March involving TAIFO and its supply of surveillance cameras used by the Taipei police is still being investigated, prosecutors said.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
RSS