Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Lin I-chin (林宜瑾) and five subordinates were released on bail yesterday morning, as prosecutors pursue the arrest of Lin’s service center director for suspected corruption.
Investigators from the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office searched Lin’s legislative office in Taipei and her constituency service center in Tainan on Wednesday.
They questioned 19 people, including Lin, for the suspected embezzlement of publicly funded salaries of legislative assistants.
Photo: Wang Chieh, Taipei Times
Lin was released on bail of NT$1 million (US$312,832) for suspected contraventions of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and document forgery. The lawmaker is not allowed to leave Taiwan.
Five other people were also released on bail. Identified only by their surnames, Liu (劉) was freed on bail of NT$100,000, Chang (張) NT$70,000, Su (蘇) NT$50,000, and Huang (黃) and Wu (吳) NT$30,000 each.
Prosecutors have also applied to detain and hold incommunicado the director of Lin’s service center in Tainan, surnamed Huang (黃), as they believe Huang might attempt to collude with other suspects, destroy evidence or evade justice.
Of the 19 people questioned, 15 were considered suspects and four were witnesses, prosecutors said.
Most of those questioned were Lin’s assistants or workers in the lawmaker’s constituency service center, they said.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Lin wrote: “No matter what the reason for being investigated is — whether it is a misunderstanding or a leak from someone with good intentions — as a representative of the Legislative Yuan, I will set a good example and cooperate with the judicial investigation to shed light on the case.”
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday bestowed one of Taiwan’s highest honors on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Ambassador Andrea Clare Bowman in recognition of her contributions to bilateral ties. “By conferring the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon on Ambassador Bowman today, I want to sincerely thank her, on behalf of the Taiwanese people, for her outstanding contribution to deepening diplomatic ties between Taiwan and SVG,” Lai said at a ceremony held at the Presidential Office in Taipei. He noted that Bowman became SVG’s first ambassador to Taiwan in 2019 and
RSS