Hualien County prosecutors have reportedly reopened a judicial probe into an alleged extortion case involving inflated tax increases for quarrying during Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi’s (傅?萁) time as county commissioner from 2009 to 2018.
Chinese-language Mirror Media on Tuesday reported that judicial authorities had conducted searches in recent weeks, and are reviewing evidence and questioning people regarding an alleged extortion case involving Lucky Cement (幸福水泥).
The Hualien District Prosecutors’ Office has reopened the cement company case, citing new evidence and witnesses now willing to cooperate, Mirror Media said.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
Prosecutors believe that Hualien County officials might have taken advantage of the case to extort the company, but whether Fu is involved remains unknown, it said.
Democratic Progressive Party Hualien County Councilor Hu Ren-shun (胡仁順) said on Facebook on Tuesday that the case was reopened after a recording reportedly emerged of county officials threatening executives of Fu An Mining Co (福安礦業), a subsidiary of Lucky Cement, while demanding bribe payments during negotiations in 2016.
Hu accused Fu of being behind a sharp business tax increase, from NT$10 to NT$70 (US$0.30 to US$2.12) per tonne, on the county’s rock quarrying sector.
The Hualien County Government gained more than NT$700 million from the tax hike, Hu said, adding that Fu did not consult or receive approval from Hualien councilors for the hike.
Lucky Cement filed many lawsuits over the tax hike, with the courts eventually ordering the Hualien County Government to pay more than NT$200 million in compensation to Lucky Cement, he said.
However, company officials said they have not yet received the funds, Hu said, accusing Fu of harming the local economy by meddling in business matters.
The report comes after another round of searches in Taipei on Friday last week over alleged accounting fraud involving campaign gifts handed out during campaigning ahead of last year’s legislative elections.
In that case, Fu has been accused of providing his party’s candidates with campaign gifts through a Hualien company called Shan Tian Xia (戰天下) prior to the elections.
Fu’s home and offices were not searched, prosecutors said, although reports said that Lee Ching-lung (李慶隆), who reportedly served as finance officer to assist Fu’s business dealings, was questioned in relation to the case.
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