Prosecutors yesterday indicted Hsinchu County Commissioner Yang Wen-ke (楊文科), other officials and contractors on charges of profiting from bribes and misuse of public authority in connection with a real-estate project.
Yang, a second-term Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) county commissioner, and Chiang Liang-yuan (江良淵), Yang’s senior secretary and a former head of the county government’s Public Works Department, were two of the officials indicted, along with Fong Yi Construction Co (豐邑機構) chairman Liu Shu-chu (劉樹居), general manager Chiu Tsung-tse (邱崇?) and two engineers who were project site supervisors.
Prosecutors initiated a probe of the Wonder World 520 project in Jhubei City (竹北) after allegations that mismanagement and negligence had led to eight incidents of partial collapses of walls as foundations were being dug and subsidence from March 2022 to the middle of last year.
Photo: CNA
The incidents led to evacuations of nearby residents.
Investigators said that Fong Yi Construction executives in 2022 donated to Yang’s re-election campaign, alleging that there were “improper links between government officials and business for illegal profit.”
Yang and Chiang allegedly put pressure on subordinates to allow Fong Yi Construction to restart work even after a collapse damaged the site and surrounding buildings, Hsinchu prosecutor Wang Yuan-chih (王遠志) said.
The indictment said that NT$250 million (US$7.66 million) in illegal profit had been made, while Chiang had NT$12.4 million in cash, and Yang had NT$698,500 in gold coins and jewelry, Wang said, adding that they were allegedly bribes from Yong Yi Construction.
“As county commissioner, Yang has a duty to uphold the public interest, and protect the lives and properties of residents, but despite numerous collapse incidents, he only listened to the developer and pressured other officials to allow the project to restart,” the indictment said.
“He enabled all sides to reap financial benefits, including offers by Fong Yi Construction for the free use of office space, meals and other expenses during the 2022 campaign,” it said.
Separately, Taipei prosecutors indicted relatives of KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) in a money laundering case.
Hsu’s sister-in-law, Liu Hsiang-chieh (劉向婕), and Liu Hsiang-chieh’s husband, Tu Ping-cheng (杜秉澄), a friend of the couple named Lin Yu-lun (林于倫) and Liu Hsiang-chieh’s personal assistant, Wu Yi-san (吳沂珊), were indicted over their alleged involvement in an operation that made NT$27 million in illegal profit from cash transfers between criminal groups, prosecutors said.
Evidence indicates that Tu headed the operation, which involved converting New Taiwan dollars into cryptocurrency, prosecutors said.
Hsu lent NT$1 million to her relatives, an exchange that was allegedly connected to Tu’s operation, prosecutors added.
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
PEACE AND SECURITY: China’s military ambitions present ‘the greatest strategic challenge to Japan and the world, Japan’s annual defense white paper said yesterday Japan yesterday warned that China risked escalating tensions with Taiwan with an increase in military exercises that appeared aimed in part at readying Beijing’s forces for a possible invasion. Japan’s annual assessment of security threats, including those posed by China, North Korea and Russia, comes as Taiwan closely monitors Chinese People’s Liberation Army air and sea exercises, including one with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. The drills are the latest in a series including maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait last year that a senior US general said would be key to any invasion. “Because of that increase in military activity,
CHIPS AND DEFENSE: Trump said the US had lost its chip business and Taipei should pay it for defense, and added that ‘we’re no different than an insurance company’ Taiwan-US relations are solid, and both sides are in agreement that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region are everyone’s concern, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday following comments by former US president Donald Trump that Taiwan “should pay” for US defense. Taiwan is thankful to the US for supporting Taiwan’s bid to participate in international organizations, Cho told a news conference in Taipei. “I know the people very well, respect them greatly. They did take about 100 percent of our chip business,” Trump told Bloomberg on June 25 in an interview that was published on Tuesday. “I think
SECURITY CONCERNS: An FBI agent said it was surprising that the shooter, whose motive remains unknown, was able to open fire before the Secret Service killed him On the heels of an apparent attempt to kill him, former US president Donald Trump yesterday called for unity and resilience as shocked leaders across the political divide recoiled from the shooting that left him injured, but “fine,” and the shooter and a rally-goer dead. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting His aides said he was in “great spirits” and doing well. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place,” he