Former Brother Elephants coach Shim Nakagomi was detained by the National Immigration Agency at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon and later questioned by Banciao prosecutors over his alleged involvement in the baseball betting scandal.
A spokesman for Banciao Prosecutors’ Office, Cheng Hsin-hung (鄭鑫宏), said Nakagomi was questioned as a defendant. Cheng said that they considered it necessary to prevent Nakagomi from leaving the country. They also detained him with an arrest warrant, he said.
When asked by reporters at the Banciao Prosecutors’ Office whether he was involved in the scandal, Nakagomi asked them in English: “Are you sure?”
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
Earlier at the airport, Nakagomi told reporters that he was planning to return to Japan to work and that he had no idea he was forbidden from leaving the country. He denied that he was involved in the gambling scandal.
Prosecutors yesterday also questioned former professional baseball player Huang Chun-chung (黃俊中) and Brother Elephants catcher Wang Chun-tai (汪竣泰) as they continue to probe game-fixing allegations.
Huang, who has reportedly told prosecutors he used his connections and resources to act as a middleman between Tsai Cheng-yi (蔡政宜), the alleged head of a gang nicknamed the “windshield wipers,” and professional baseball players, is under investigation by the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau and district prosecutors.
Last week, the Banciao District Court approved a request by prosecutors to detain Huang to prevent him from colluding with other defendants or witnesses. He has been detained for nine days.
Yesterday was the second time Wang had been summoned for questioning. Prosecutors remained tight-lipped, however, citing regulations that restrict them from revealing details of cases under investigation. They only said they would continue to question and cross-examine more witnesses and defendants to determine whether their statements corroborate, as well as ascertain whether the statements can be supported by physical evidence.
Since the recent investigations began, Wang and several other baseball players, including Brother Elephants players Wu Pao-hsien (吳保賢), Wang Jing-li (王勁力), Liu Yu-chan (柳裕展), Li Hao-ren (李濠任) and Tsao Chin-hui (曹錦輝), as well as La New Bears pitcher Chang Chih-chia (張誌家) and Hsieh Chia-hsien (謝佳賢) of the Sinon Bulls, have been listed as defendants in a game-fixing case under investigation by Banciao District prosecutors.
Speaking briefly to reporters outside of the Investigation Bureau, Chang’s attorney, Tsai Jui-lin (蔡瑞麟), yesterday denied media reports that Chang received expensive cars from gambling syndicates.
The La New Bears pitcher has reportedly admitted accepting a Mercedes-Benz and NT$1 million (US$30,800) from the gang, although prosecutors have declined to confirm the report.
Tsai Jui-lin said Chang paid for the cars from his own money, which the attorney said was not made illegally.
“Chang has recently made a lot of money. He can buy as many cars as he wants,” Tsai Jui-lin said.
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) has been mired in repeated game-fixing scandals in recent years.
This is the fifth time in 20 years that professional baseball players in Taiwan have been investigated for throwing games.
Meanwhile, CPBL chairman Chao Shou-po (趙守博) said yesterday that it would convene for a meeting of standing board directors, who are also management-level representatives of the four professional baseball teams, when the investigation concludes.
“We hope that investigators can work a little faster so that everyone can all calm down and talk about whether or not we should continue,” Chao said.
Chao was attending a World Scout Conference in Malaysia and did not return to Taiwan until Sunday night. He said that he immediately called the management of the four teams and asked them about what they would do in response to the crisis.
“While some said that they wanted to continue, others said they were really discouraged,” Chao said.
Regarding the government’s handling of the scandal, Chao said that some deemed it useless because they said they had visited all the government agencies that could be of assistance but that the problem keeps recurring.
Others described professional baseball as a business where you get no reward for your accomplishments, and you have to pay out of your pocket if anything goes wrong.
They do not know if they should continue, Chao said.
He said that the meeting of the CPBL’s standing board directors could potentially determine the fate of the league, adding that he will do everything he can to keep the league alive.
In response to complaints from baseball fans that Chao was not around as the CPBL was going through the crisis, Chao said that he was unfairly treated by the press.
“I was representing the country at an event [the World Scout Conference],” Chao said. “Do you want me to abandon my duty and return instead? The CPBL job is an unpaid position.”
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