Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Lin Hsi-shan (林錫山) yesterday was detained for suspected corruption amid a probe into alleged irregularities in government procurements.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Lin is suspected of having received more than NT$10 million (US$295,631) in kickbacks from Far Net Technologies Co (網遠科技), which won 32 computer and IT-related contracts at the Legislative Yuan amounting to NT$200 million.
Three other individuals were also detained as of last night, including Far Net Technologies owner Lin Pao-cheng (李保承) and sales manager Lin Ming-yu (林明玉), and Chen Liang-yin (陳亮吟), a section chief at the legislature’s Secretary-General’s Office.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The four are being questioned over alleged violations of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and the Government Procurement Act (政府採購法), as well as accepting bribes, receiving improper benefit in contravention of their official duty and leaking secrets, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Chang Chieh-chin (張介欽) said.
He said that all four are being held incommunicado due to the risk that they might collude on testimony, destroy evidence or flee from prosecution.
Chang said that more than 160 people, including police officers, prosecutors and investigators, were involved in the raids on 19 locations on Tuesday and that more than NT$6 million was found at Lin Hai-shan’s office and his residence, which prosecutors suspect came from kickbacks from Far Net.
Nine others taken in for questioning on Tuesday were released yesterday after posting bail, including Lin Hsi-shan’s wife, Liu Hsin-wei (劉馨蔚), who was freed on NT$2 million bail; Lin’s secretary Tsai Pin-chuan (蔡斌全), freed on NT$100,000 bail; and Chen Lu-sheng (陳露生), a former section chief at the Legislative Yuan’s Information Technology Office, released on NT$500,000 bail.
Prosecutors said Lin Hsi-shan, Far Net and other officials were placed under surveillance in December 2013 as part of an investigation into allegations of graft and bid-rigging dating back to 2012.
Chang said Lin Hsi-shan allegedly ordered the heads of the Information Technology Office and its staff to cooperate with Far Net on a number of open public tenders for computer and IT-related procurement projects, where the technical specifications, equipment requirements, minimum bid price, details of tender contract, allocated budget and bids by competing companies were leaked to the firm.
Prosecutors said that while under surveillance, Lin Hsi-shan allegedly received NT$7 million in a brown envelope from an intermediary sent by Far Net as the pair took a Taiwan High Speed Rail train journey in January last year.
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military