Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Risk Management section inspector Chen Wen-hsiung (陳文雄) and 17 other people including pharmaceutical company owners, questioned on Wednesday by the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office as part of a corruption probe, were released on bail yesterday morning.
Chen, 50, was accused of violating provisions of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Prosecutors charged Chen with bribery, leaking confidential information, forgery and other charges before his release after posting NT$500,000 (US$15,745) bail yesterday.
The other people involved in the probe, including Chen’s wife, were also released, with bail set at NT$200,000 each.
Photo: Chen Wei-tzu, Taipei Times
The companies ensnared in the probe reportedly include Genuine Chemical Pharmaceutical Co (人人化學製藥), CBC Biotechnological & Pharmaceutical Co (中生生技), Wei Li Pharmaceutical Co (中生威力化學), Paitun Biochemical Pharmacy Co (派頓化學製藥), Dersan Pharmaceutical Co (德山藥廠) and Kuang Nan Pharmaceutical Co (光南製藥).
Chen allegedly made at least NT$5 million in the past two years by providing the time and date of “unannounced” FDA inspections to proprietors in exchange for money.
He also allegedly helped products pass inspections and ensured they would receive their Good Manufacturing Practice and other certifications.
For his “services” and inside information Chen allegedly asked each company for about NT$1 million.
Prosecutors said they collaborated with the Ministry of Justice’s Agency Against Corruption to place Chen under surveillance for more than a year after receiving a tip-off.
The investigation reportedly found that when Chen planned inspections of pharmaceutical companies he would allegedly give instructions to the owners on how to deposit the alleged bribes. He would hold meeting’s in coffee shops or receive gifts containing money.
Chen’s wife would allegedly then deposit the money in various bank accounts.
National Health Insurance Civic Surveillance Alliance (民間監督健保聯盟) spokeswoman Eva Teng (滕西華) said that the bribery scheme is likely large scale.
“It would seem incredulous for just one FDA inspector to able to shield the companies from proper checks and monitoring. The scandal clearly shows poor management and negligence by the FDA.”
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS