Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), director of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Taipei chapter, on Friday was released on bail of NT$10 million (US$333,056) amid an investigation into the alleged forgery of signatures in a recall campaign targeting two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers.
Bail was granted after she reversed her plea to guilty for all of the charges she faces.
The Taipei District Court ordered Huang Lu to wear an ankle bracelet to track her movements.
Photo: CNA
Yao Fu-wen (姚富文), the chapter’s general manager, and Chu Wen-ching (初文卿), its secretary-general, also pleaded guilty and posted bail of NT$2 million apiece.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on June 16 indicted Huang Lu, Yao and Chu for allegedly forging 5,211 signatures — 2,537 related to the bid to recall DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶), or 96 percent of the total on the petition, and 2,674 in the campaign targeting DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤), or 94 percent of the total.
Huang Lu oversaw the process, the office said.
Lai Yi-jen (賴苡任), who organized the campaign targeting Rosalia Wu, pleaded not guilty.
Lai asked the court to summon four members of the recall campaign who earlier pleaded guilty and 15 volunteers who were given deferred sentences.
Lai said that the “anonymous volunteer” who claimed that he had issued an order to copy names from a list of KMT members on petition forms must step forward.
The court declined.
The 15 volunteers worked on the third floor, while Lai worked on the second, it said, adding that they were not relevant to the case.
In response to Huang Lu’s guilty plea, KMT Culture and Communications Committee head Lin Kuan-yu (林寬裕) said that it was a modern example of how a person was forced to plead guilty due to the judiciary abusing its power.
All of those who have been charged are innocent, Lin added.
Rosalia Wu said that Lin’s claims need to be backed by evidence, adding that it was unlikely that the 100-odd people who have been indicted and have admitted guilt were coerced.
“The KMT’s wishful ignorance of its criminal activities and continued efforts to undermine the professionalism of the judiciary not only set a bad example, but also prevent the judiciary from doing its job,” she said.
In other news, Taipei City Council Deputy Speaker Yeh Lin-chuang (葉林傳) was released on NT$5 million bail on Friday after being questioned over corruption allegations the day before.
The prosecutors’ office barred Yeh from leaving the country and ordered electronic monitoring of his movements.
Eleven other suspects and three witnesses were also released on Friday, either on bail or without restrictions, after giving statements.
Prosecutors have accused Yeh, a KMT member, of owning an adults-only gaming arcade registered under the name of a businessperson surnamed Chi (紀).
He is also being investigated over alleged contraventions of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) by failing to recuse himself during the passage of amendments in 2017 and 2018 that gave businesses such as the one he allegedly owns legal status, prosecutors said.
After a search warrant was approved on Thursday, investigators searched 17 locations linked to Yeh and eight others.
The investigation traces back to a case last year involving a Taipei police officer surnamed Liu (劉), who was accused of accepting bribes to cover up illegal activity at gaming arcades, massage parlors and bars.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang and Lee Wen-hsin
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