Taipei City Council Deputy Speaker Yeh Lin-chuan (葉林傳) today was indicted in a corruption scandal for allegedly using proxies to run a gambling business and pushing through related legal amendments for profit.
Yeh was accused of running the adults-only Hsin Hsin gaming arcade (欣欣電子遊藝場) in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) registered under a businessperson surnamed Chi (紀).
He allegedly exploited the Taipei City Office of Commerce’s proposed 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) to grant his business legal status, prosecutors said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Yeh allegedly ensured that his gaming center would benefit by inserting a “retroactive exemption clause” so it could still qualify as a restricted electronic gaming arcade under the new amendments, they said.
His actions allegedly earned Hsin Hsin an additional NT$3.14 million (US$102,801), prosecutors said.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said today that it indicted Yeh and six others for “profiteering” in contravention of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and Article 268 of the Criminal Code (刑法) that prohibits establishing a place of gambling.
Contraventions of Article 268 are subject to a fine of up to NT$90,000.
The office said it is seeking a heavy sentence, citing Yeh’s evasiveness and lack of remorse following the crime.
Hsin Hsin’s registered owners Lin Yi-hung (林奕宏) and Chi Wen-chi (紀文奇) were among those indicted, it said.
Lin and 24 others have also been indicted for operating an illegal prostitution business and acting as a third party to arrange for others to commit sexual acts for profit, it added.
They are subject to prison sentences of up to five years and additional fines of up to NT$100,000 under this charge, the office said.
Last month, prosecutors searched seventeen locations, including the offices and residences of Yeh and six others connected to the corruption case, summoning 12 defendants and three witnesses for questioning.
Yeh was then released on bail of NT$5 million, barred from leaving the country or traveling by sea and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device.
Eleven other suspects and the witnesses were also released either on bail or without restrictions after giving statements.
Yeh has not responded to requests for comment today, while his office refused to comment saying it has not yet received the relevant documents.
Additional reporting by Kan Meng-lin
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
THE GOOD WORD: More than 100 colleges on both sides of the Pacific will work together to bring students to Taiwan so they can learn Mandarin where it is spoken A total of 102 universities from Taiwan and the US are collaborating in a push to promote Taiwan as the first-choice place to learn Mandarin, with seven Mandarin learning centers stood up in the US to train and support teachers, the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET) said. At the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held over the weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana, a Taiwan Pavilion was jointly run by 17 representative teams from the FICHET, the Overseas Community Affairs Council, the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu, the
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
RSS