Taipei prosecutors today searched the offices and residences of Taipei City Council Deputy Speaker Yeh Lin-chuan (葉林傳) and seven other people in connection with a corruption investigation.
Seventeen locations were searched, while 12 defendants, including Yeh and a computer game center owner surnamed Chi (紀) and three witnesses, were summoned for questioning, prosecutors said.
A small suitcase was taken away by the prosecutors after a two-hour search this morning.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Yeh was suspected to have contravened the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), while the other 11 people were suspected to have contravened Article 268 of the Criminal Code for allegedly intending to profit from a gambling business, prosecutors said.
Yeh reportedly attempted to push through amendments to Article 10 of the Taipei City Electronic Game Management and Autonomy Regulations (台北市電子遊戲場業設置管理自治條例) between 2017 and 2018 to legalize Chi’s business, prosecutors said.
Yeh is suspected of running a computer game center registered under the names of Chi and others in Zhongshan District (中山), prosecutors said.
Yeh did not avoid a conflict of interest when the Taipei City Council discussed the amendments, they said.
The case might be related to an investigation over the alleged involvement of two of Yeh’s former and current staffers in a bribery case last year, people familiar with the matter said.
A former head of Yeh’s office, surnamed Chang (張), and the current head, surnamed Lin (林), who were suspected to have bribed the police, were eventually released without bail last year.
The two were alleged to have bribed a police officer, surnamed Liu (劉), from the Songshan precinct to allow various businesses in the gambling and sex industries to run since 2009, investigators said last year.
Yeh had nothing to do with the case, investigators said at the time.
Thirty-six people, including Liu and his daughter, were summoned for questioning last year.
The investigation is still ongoing.
Additional reporting by Yang Hsin-hui, Tung Kuan-yi and Wu Sheng-ju
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
RSS