Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Tai-hua (林岱樺) from Kaohsiung is under investigation after being suspected of fraudulently claiming expenses to pay her assistants.
Prosecutors and investigators this morning searched her office at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei and her constituency service office in Kaohsiung, before taking Lin in for questioning at the southern mobile workstation of the Investigation Bureau under the Ministry of Justice in Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港).
Upon being apprehended, Lin suddenly took out a white sheet of paper and repeatedly shouted to the media, “political interference in the Judicial Yuan, the Judicial Yuan is interfering in the primaries,” despite investigators' attempts to stop her.
Photo courtesy of a reader
Lin has, up until now, been on top of public polls to win the DPP primary to select the party’s candidate for the Kaohsiung mayoral election coming up next year.
Earlier today, Lin’s constituency service office released a statement saying that as legislator, Lin had not broken the law and all expenses claimed were legal and justified, and though they would cooperate with the Judicial Yuan’s investigation, she would be found innocent.
The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office declined to comment on the case.
The Legislative Yuan issued a news release saying that this morning’s search of Lin’s office complied with regulations and they were notified in advance by prosecutors, after which they sent personnel to accompany investigators, though they could not comment further on the details of an ongoing investigation.
Investigators completed the search at 11.10am, leaving the Legislative Yuan with four white boxes.
Lin, the daughter of the former mayor of Fengshan City (鳳山市) Lin San-lang (林三郎), was first elected to the Legislative Yuan in 2001 as a representative of Fengshan District (鳳山) in Kaohsiung City.
In 2009, she was nominated to take office as mayor of Kaohsiung County, but in the same year, Kaohsiung County merged with Kaohsiung City and the position was retracted.
Lin has been named as one of five candidates to run in the DPP primary to select the party’s candidate for the Kaohsiung mayoral election coming up next year, and has been pegged as the frontrunner.
Lin has been described as a “lone wolf legislator,” due to her strong Buddhist beliefs and religious affiliations, however, she has been involved in past controversies, including opposition to same-sex marriage.
There have been reports that three of her opponents, all legislators from DPP’s New Tide Faction, may join forces and nominate a single candidate to face off against Lin, though after today’s investigation, her participation in the primary remains to be seen.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said he respects the judiciary and hopes that investigators would find out the truth.
Chiou Jiunn-yann (邱駿彥), head of the DPP's anti-corruption committee, said a meeting is to be held on Wednesday next week to discuss the case involving the party’s Taipei City Councilor Chen E-jun (陳怡君) who allegedly claimed NT$3 million (US$91,334) in fraudulent assistant fees.
Chen is to attend a detention hearing at 3pm today after the High Court revoked the Shilin District Court’s ruling to release Chen on bail of NT$1 million which was appealed by prosecutors.
Whether the meeting would also discuss Lin’s case would depend on whether she would be detained and how much evidence prosecutors had, said Chiou.
Additional reporting by CNA.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
RSS