The Kaohsiung Marine Bureau and the residence of former bureau director Wang Tuan-jen (王端仁) were searched yesterday and 22 people summoned for questioning as part of the investigation into the bureau’s lease of Singda Harbor (興達港) to Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co, Kaohsiung prosecutors said.
Wang and another unnamed individual did not appear, and Wang is now listed as one of the seven defendants in two fraud cases against Ching Fu, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office said.
One case concerns the Singda Harbor deal, the other is linked to the Ministry of National Defense’s NT$35.8 billion (US$1.2 billion at the current exchange rate) contract with Ching Fu to build six minesweepers.
Photo: CNA
The joint task force from the prosecutors’ office and the Agency Against Corruption visited the Kaohsiung Marine Bureau and returned with material relating to the minesweeper deal and several bureau officials involved in the harbor lease, it said.
Officials from the bureau and the Fisheries Agency were summoned to clarify how Ching Fu had been able to lease the harbor, the prosecutors’ office said.
The investigation was triggered by an audio recording made on Oct 7 last year, revealed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Nov 14, in which Ching Fu vice chairman Chen Wei-chih (陳偉志) was allegedly heard talking to Wang and other officials about bidding for the harbor rights.
Fisheries Agency Director-General Chen Tien-shou (陳添壽), his predecessor Tsay Tzu-yaw (蔡日曜) and Wang were all summoned to give their statements, the prosecutors’ office said.
Investigators are trying to determine if government officials were involved in helping Ching Fu win the harbor bid, and if so, they might face charges for contravening the Government Procurement Act (政府採購法) and corruption, the office said.
Sources said the probe into the harbor deal and Ching Fu began after Wang stepped down in the middle of this month.
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