The Ministry of Justice announced yesterday that prosecutors indicted 534 elected officials since it established the Black Gold Investigation Center five years ago to crack down on corruption.
According to the ministry's statistics, prosecutors have prosecuted 534 officials for taking bribes, buying votes, or being involved in mafia gangs, and prosecutors have recovered more than NT$27.1 billion dirty money.
Those prosecuted include 23 legislators, eight city or county commissioners, 15 city or county speakers or vice speakers, 141 city councilors and 347 township heads or councilors, the statistics said.
More than 300 senior government officials and 3,256 civil servants were also indicted for bribery.
The Black Gold Investigation Center was founded in June 2000, the year Democratic Progressive Party took office. The statistics dated from June 2000 to the end of last year.
Justice Minister Morley Shih (
On Thursday, Tainan County Council Speaker Wu Chien-bao (
Prosecutors asked the court to detain Wu on Friday and the court agreed that he should be detained yesterday morning.
Prosecutors have not been able to locate Lee.
In addition, Chunghwa County Council Speaker Pai Hung-shen (
Shih said the former Kaohsiung City Council speaker Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄), who was found guilty of vote-buying in a council speakership election, was a good example of the justice ministry's determination to crack down on corruption.
He said Chu's trial -- in which many other Kaohsiung City councilors and a council vice speaker were convicted for bribery -- had cleaned up Kaohsiung politics.
Shih also pointed to the prosecution of Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU) lawmaker Tsai Hao (
He further said KMT Legislator Ho Chih-hui (何智輝) was prosecuted for accepting kickbacks form construction firms in return for contracts last year.
In addition, 14 Taipei County Councilors were prosecuted last year for jointly accepting bribes from local construction firms, he added.
Shih also said that former Council of Indigenous Peoples Chairman Chen Chien-nien (
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
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