Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Shao-ting (黃紹庭) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said that he had departed for China before a search was conducted at his office and home amid a corruption probe.
The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office said that if it could not get in touch with Huang, it would issue a bulletin for his arrest.
Huang has been accused of inflating salary payments to assistants at his office.
Photo: Screen grab from Huang Shao-ting’s Facebook page
Huang said in a statement that he had departed for Xiamen on Thursday.
Investigators on Thursday morning conducted searches at 10 locations, including Huang’s offices and family residence, and took in 16 people for questioning.
However, they failed to find Huang at the time, they said, adding that they later received information that he had boarded a flight at Kaohsiung International Airport.
Huang, 54, is a member of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee and was previously deputy director of its policy committee.
He won a Kaohsiung city councilor seat in 2006, but did not finish his term after it was determined that he had US citizenship.
He was removed from the seat in 2009.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) yesterday said that Huang was hiding from the corruption probe.
Huang later yesterday posted a video via the KMT’s Kaohsiung City Chapter, denying that he was seeking to avoid prosecution.
His trip abroad had been scheduled, he said.
“I had personal business to take care of and when I am finished within a few days, I will return to Taiwan,” he said, adding that he would report to the authorities and cooperate with the investigation.
He said he had no idea that a probe was under way and only learned about it after he had landed in China.
He called the prosecutors’ office to explain his situation and promised to return home soon, he said.
KMT Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩), head of KMT’s Kaohsiung City Chapter, urged Huang to return and cooperate in the probe.
Additional reporting by CNA
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