A detention hearing yesterday afternoon to review prosecutors’ request to detain five incumbent and former lawmakers accused of bribery was still ongoing as of press time last night.
The Taipei Prosecutors’ Office was hoping to detain Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) and Sufin Siluko, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chen-ching (蘇震清) and former New Power Party legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) over their alleged involvement in a bribery case.
Prosecutors asked the Taipei District Court to detain them, citing the seriousness of the crimes and the possibility that they could collude to destroy evidence, or flee the nation.
Photo: Chen Wei-tzu, Taipei Times
They suspect Su of taking NT$20 million (US$677,920) in bribes, while the other lawmakers have been accused of taking bribes ranging from tens of thousands of New Taiwan dollars to NT$2 million from former Pacific Distribution Investment Co (太平洋流通) chairman Lee Heng-lung (李恆隆). The bribes were allegedly taken since 2013 to help Lee in his legal battle against Far Eastern Group (遠東集團) over the ownership of the Pacific Sogo Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨) chain.
Prosecutors on Saturday asked the court to detain Lee.
They also requested that independent Legislator Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇) be detained for allegedly taking bribes to help two funeral service providers obtain a piece of land that was part of a national park.
Chao was alleged to have pressured the Construction and Planning Agency to allow a cemetery to be built on the land, with Su’s former aide Kuo Ke-ming (郭克銘), who now runs a political consulting company, allegedly serving as one of the two intermediaries responsible for delivering bribes to lawmakers and their assistants on behalf of Lee.
During a raid of Chao’s home on Friday, prosecutors found NT$9.2 million in cash in a bag, which is suspected to be the bribe Kuo paid to the lawmaker on behalf of the two companies.
The raid was part of a nationwide operation to question the five lawmakers and former DPP legislator Mark Chen (陳唐山), 85, and search their offices and homes over the bribery allegations.
The other alleged intermediary, Tonlin Department Store (統領百貨) general manager Weng Hua-li (翁華利), was released on NT$2 million bail.
Lee has denied he paid bribes to lawmakers, describing the money as a loan to Su, without elaborating.
Lee has been in a legal fight against Far Eastern Group chairman Douglas Hsu (徐旭東) over Pacific Sogo’s ownership since the early 2000s.
At the heart of the issue was whether Far Eastern’s capital injection of NT$4.01 billion from 2002 to 2008 was proper and gave it ownership of the chain by making it the biggest shareholder.
It was later found both legal and illegal in different courts during a long legal battle.
In the final verdict in 2013, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled the capital injections to be legal and that Far Eastern Group was the chain’s largest shareholder and rightful owner.
Prosecutors argued that Lee’s campaign to buy influence began after that ruling and has continued until today, as he remained determined to fight for ownership of the lucrative company.
They suspect the alleged bribes have been used to lobby the Ministry of Economic Affairs to amend Company Act (公司法) clauses on capital increases and make them retroactive so that his firm could maintain control of Pacific Sogo.
Additional reporting by Chang Wen-chuan
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique