Four police officers in New Taipei City, including a senior official, are under investigation for attending a banquet hosted by a criminal gang, where they allegedly leaked updates on ongoing cases, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said today.
The office said it launched searches yesterday of the officers’ residences and brought four in for questioning last night.
After interrogation, three officers were released on bail, while the senior official is being held incommunicado, prosecutors said.
Photo: Wang Ting-chuan, Taipei Times
They are suspected of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and the Criminal Code by leaking official secrets, they added.
The office said it directed the Investigation Bureau’s Taichung City Field Office to investigate suspected misconduct.
Authorities said they searched the residences of an acting deputy commander at the New Taipei City Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division surnamed Cheng (鄭), an investigator surnamed Chao (趙), a former investigator now serving at Jinshan Precinct surnamed Wang (王) and an investigator surnamed Chang (張) from the Zhonghe Precinct.
The four allegedly accepted an invitation to a banquet in 2023, at which they disclosed sensitive information to members of an organized crime organization, prosecutors said.
Cheng was detained incommunicado due to the seriousness of the suspected offenses and as there was deemed to be a risk of collusion or destruction of evidence, they said
Chang was released on bail of NT$150,000, while Wang was released on bail of NT$100,000 and Chao on bail of NT$50,000.
The division said that it would fully cooperate with the investigation and would not cover up any wrongdoing.
The Zhonghe Precinct said Chang had been transferred to its investigations team and was responsible for handling official documents.
He was detained on Oct. 16 over a suspected information leak connected to his former post at the division and immediately suspended, it said.
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