Lawyer and former Taipei prosecutor Ko Chin-chu (柯金柱) was released on bail yesterday after being detained on suspicion of involvement in a case in which a man served time in jail on behalf of a criminal.
"Former prosecutor Ko is the attorney of Chen San-lung (
"Ko has been charged with concealment of an offender and destruction of evidence. Prosecutors ordered that he be released on NT$300,000 bail," Lin said.
PHOTO: CHEN TSE-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen San-lung, a owner of a well-known record company, was sentenced to 18 months' jail by the Taiwan High Court in September 2003 for fraud offenses.
Prosecutors said Chen then escaped and was placed on a most-wanted list.
They alleged that last November, Chen paid Chung to report to Taoyuan Prosecutors' Office and impersonate him. Chung was duly jailed and served nine months in prison.
Prosecutors said that because Chen had been accused of pirating recordings by the late pop superstar Teresa Teng (
The court then asked the Taipei Prosecutors' Office to investigate the matter.
Prosecutors said that Ko had represented the fake Chen during the trial, and therefore knew about the switch.
Prosecutors on Tuesday raided Ko's office, residence and his girlfriend's residence, where they seized documents.
Ko yesterday told reporters he knew nothing about the switch and that he was innocent.
Ko quit his job as a prosecutor and became a lawyer last year.
Ministry of Justice officials yesterday said Taoyuan prosecutors and officials at the Taoyuan Prison should take responsibility for the scandal because they should have carefully checked Chung's identity before detaining him.
Chen was also arrested and detained on Tuesday.
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