The Changhua County Prosecutors’ Office has indicted 14 people, including mayors and representatives of the county’s Jhutang Township (竹塘) and Yunlin County’s Erlun Township (二崙), on charges of accepting millions of dollars in kickbacks related to green-energy projects.
Jhutang Township Mayor Tsai Shuo-jen (蔡碩任), along with Jhutang Township Council Speaker Lin Shu-nu (林淑女) and her husband, Tsai Yue-yang (蔡岳陽), allegedly leaked information on the bidding for a photovoltaic power plant and received NT$440 million (US$13.57 million) in kickbacks for two projects, the indictment issued on Monday read.
In 2021, Tsai Yue-yang and green-energy developers, together with a representative of a photovoltaic company surnamed Lin (林), persuaded Tsai Shuo-jen to process the Jhutang Public Cemetery lease as a photovoltaic power generation project, promising the mayor NT$4,500 for every 1,000 kilowatt-peak generated, the indictment said.
Photo: Chang Tsung-chiu, Taipei Times
Kilowatt-peak denotes the peak performance capability of a photovoltaic system or solar panel.
Tsai Yue-yang and Lin Shu-nu received NT$14.47 million and NT$6 million respectively for facilitating the deal, it said.
In 2022, Tsai Yue-yang further persuaded Tsai Shuo-jen to initiate projects to install rooftop solar panels and divide the project into separate bids in contravention of the Government Procurement Act (政府採購法), it said.
The 2022 project allegedly benefited a developer surnamed Lee (李), who received NT$27.34 million from Taiwan Power Co’s (台電) purchase of the power generated, it said.
Erlun Township Mayor Chung Tung-jung (鍾東榮) and Erlun Township Council Speaker Yang Shih-pin (楊世彬) face the same charges, with Chung accused of hiding NT$9.2 million in illegal kickbacks in a family temple, the indictment said.
Prosecutors have asked for eight, 11, 12 and 11-year prison sentences for Tsai Shuo-jen, Chung, Lin Shu-nu and Yang respectively.
A source in the photovoltaic energy production industry, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the rapid growth in the nation’s green-energy market in the past few years has resulted in exorbitant pricing, cutthroat competition and sometimes illegal activity.
Prosecutors said it was inevitable that the development of green-energy systems would result in actors seeking to cash in, but government officials must adhere to the law when processing procurement projects, and instead of seeking bribes, should encourage developers to give back to the community.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so
RSS