The Taiwan Keelung District Court yesterday night ordered that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Keelung branch chairman Wu Kuo-sheng (吳國勝) be detained and held incommunicado, while two staffers were released on bail this morning after questioning.
After questioning Wu, the court determined he was strongly suspected of misusing personal data and committing forgery.
The court said Wu posed a risk of collusion and evidence destruction, noting that accomplices identified him as the main offender and he had deliberately used communication apps that made evidence collection difficult. It therefore granted the prosecution's request for detention.
Photo: CNA
During questioning, Wu admitted to taking part in recall efforts against ruling Democratic Progressive Party city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Tiun (張之豪) of Keelung's Ren'ai and Anle districts.
Although Wu denied the charges brought by prosecutors, his statements were contradictory and failed to reasonably explain the irregularities in the recall petitions, the court said.
Prosecutors yesterday also questioned two KMT staffers, surnamed Cheng (鄭) and Li (李), after requesting permission to detain Wu.
Cheng and Li, suspected of document forgery, were released on NT$50,000 and NT$150,000 bail respectively this morning.
Prosecutors raided the KMT Keelung branch yesterday, taking Wu and the branch's deputy secretary, Han Chi-yuan (韓吉元), in for questioning. Han was later released on NT$100,000 bail.
Prosecutors cross-examined conversations in a WeChat group with the defendants' statements to determine whether Wu was aware of the forgeries.
The group included Wu, Han and Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), former director of the Keelung City government's Department of Civil Affairs, who was detained Tuesday on the same charges.
Before yesterday’s raid, the KMT branch office was searched on April 28, and Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃) and Yu Cheng-yi (游正義), the chief petitioners in the recall campaign against Cheng and Tiun, were brought in for investigation.
Cheng was later released on NT$150,000 bail, and Chi was detained and held incommunicado.
Meanwhile, KMT Tainan chapter deputy director Chuang Chan-kuei (莊占魁), who was prosecuted in another recall fraud case, was released on NT$200,000 bail yesterday night after admitting wrongdoing in a trial at the Tainan District Court.
Eleven individuals linked to the KMT, including Chuang, were indicted yesterday for allegedly forging names on recall vote petitions targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) and Wang Ting-yu (王定宇).
The suspects were charged with forgery offenses under Articles 210 and 216 of Taiwan's Criminal Code, and for the illegal use of personal information under Article 41 of the Personal Data Protection Act.
Additional reporting by Lin Chia-tung and Fion Khan
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday said that private-sector refiners are willing to stop buying Russian naphtha should the EU ask them to, after a group of non-governmental organizations, including the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), criticized the nation’s continued business with the country. While Taiwan joined the US and its Western allies in putting broad sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, it did not explicitly ban imports of naphtha, a major hard-currency earner for Russia. While state-owned firms stopped importing Russian oil in 2023, there is no restriction on private companies to
President William Lai (賴清德) is expected to announce a new advanced “all-domain” air defense system to better defend against China when he gives his keynote national day speech today, four sources familiar with the matter said. Taiwan is ramping up defense spending and modernizing its armed forces, but faces a China that has a far larger military and is adding its own advanced new weapons such as stealth fighter jets, aircraft carriers and a huge array of missiles. Lai is expected to announce the air defense system dubbed “Taiwan Dome” in his speech this morning, one of the sources said. The system
RSS