Former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) was released yesterday on bail of NT$28 million (US$876,369) in Taoyuan after being indicted on corruption charges the day before.
Cheng had been held incommunicado since he was detained in Taoyuan based on a court order issued on July 11.
As part of the conditions of his release, he is required to remain at his residence and is not allowed to leave the country for eight months, prosecutors said.
Photo: CNA
He is also forbidden from making contact with witnesses or other defendants in the case, they said.
Four other suspects involved in the case who had been detained were also released on bail.
Hou Shui-wen (侯水文), former executive general manager of Formosa Plastics Group, was released on bail of NT$2.05 million; Liao Chun-sung (廖俊松), former head of an industrial zone planning committee in Linkou, was released on bail of NT$1.1 million; while two of Liao’s sons, Liao Chia-hsing (廖家興) and Liao Li-ting (廖力廷), were released on bail of NT$600,000 and NT$250,000 respectively.
The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office told a news conference on Tuesday that it recommended a 12-year jail sentence for Cheng for allegedly receiving a NT$5 million bribe while he was Taoyuan mayor to broker an industrial development project in the city’s Hwa Ya Technology Park (華亞科技園區) in Linkou District (林口) in 2017.
Following Tuesday’s indictments, the case was transferred to the Taoyuan District Court, which held a hearing at 9:30pm the same day.
At 1:30am the court ruled at the hearing that Cheng be granted bail of NT$28 million, the highest bail amount given to any political figure in recent years.
A lawyer representing Cheng brought the bail money at about 2:41am and the visibly tired former vice premier left the court without speaking to reporters at about 5am.
Cheng is also under investigation in a separate case, after NT$6.78 million in cash was discovered at his Taipei residence during a search by prosecutors on July 29.
Cheng, 57, served as vice premier from Jan. 31 last year to May 20 during former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) second term. He was the first major of the then-newly established Taoyuan special municipality from 2014 to 2022.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS