The police this morning summoned at least four entertainers for questioning regarding alleged evasion of compulsory military service, including actors Hsiu Chieh-kai (修杰楷) and Chen Bo-lin (陳柏霖), boyband Energy member Chang Shu-wei (張書偉) and former member of the boyband Lollipop Leow Jun-jie (廖俊傑).
The police also plan to issue an order to question Kunda Hsieh (謝坤達), another member of Energy, upon his return to Taiwan after they were told by his wife Alice Ko (柯佳嬿) that he had flown to Vancouver earlier this morning for a 10-day work trip, people familiar with the matter said.
Three other people, surnamed Yuan (袁), Liu (劉) and Lee (李), were also summoned for questioning, as a total of 10 people are expected to be questioned today, New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Photo: Lu Yun-feng, Taipei Times
Prosecutors are to investigate potential violations of the Punishment Act for Violation of the Military Service System (妨害兵役治罪條例) and document forgery.
Hsiu reportedly admitted paying NT$150,000 for a forged medical report that claimed he had high blood pressure to dodge compulsory military service, people familiar with the matter said.
Chen reportedly told police that he was “prepared” for them to come after actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was accused of military service evasion.
He was waiting for the police to come to him after actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) and William Liao (威廉), another former member of Lollipop, were summoned for questioning, he reportedly said.
He felt relieved this morning after not sleeping well for days, he reportedly said.
Chang also reportedly told police that he “knew this day would come.”
Leow reportedly claimed he did not discuss the case with Wang and did not know he was also involved.
Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) today said the ministry is to hasten discussions with the Tri-Service General Hospital and work diligently to improve procedures to prevent similar incidents from occurring.
Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) today said the ministry respects the judiciary’s investigation and is to cooperate with investigators.
In January, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office began investigating an organized crime group for allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents.
Prosecutors alleged the fraud ring was run by a man, Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), and his three assistants, who were paid to help people dodge compulsory military service by exploiting loopholes in medical examinations, using substitutes and falsifying documents.
The fraud operation was shut down in January when Chen Chih-ming was arrested.
Taiwan requires all able-bodied men aged 18 to 36 to serve mandatory military service.
Those with certain physical or medical conditions may be exempted, but they must be certified through medical examinations that are conducted under the supervision of military conscription officers.
The Punishment Act for Violation of the Military Service System stipulates that those not attending the recruitment checkup without any reason, purposely harming their body or using other methods to change their physical conditions, or deliberately submitting a false document to authorities to avoid military service would face up to five years in prison.
Additional reporting by Sam Garcia, Wang Ting-chuan, Jason Pan and Shelley Shan
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