Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and other county government officials were yesterday summoned by the Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office as part of an investigation into a suspected corruption case.
Prosecutors’ office personnel searched more than 30 locations before 1pm yesterday — including Lin’s government-assigned housing, her private residence, and Yilan County and Bureau of Land Administration Director Yang Chung-ming’s (楊崇明) office.
Prosecutors said the search was conducted in conjunction with officials from the Ministry of Justice’s Agency Against Corruption, and the search warrants were approved by the county district court.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
The agency has not provided more information as to the focus or progress of the investigation.
Luodong Township Mayor (羅東) Wu Chiu-ling’s (吳秋齡) office was also searched, prosecutors said.
Wu was among those summoned for questioning about the case, along with Yilan County Department of Economic Affairs Acting Director Wu Chao-chin (吳朝琴), Yilan County Department of Transportation Director Huang Chih-liang (黃志良) and Yilan County Government Secretariat Director Tseng Cheng-yang (曾成陽), they said.
Yilan County Secretary-General Lin Mao-sheng (林茂盛) said that although the precise nature of the case is unclear, the Yilan County Government would fully cooperate with the investigation.
Sources in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who declined to be named, said that the incident would affect Lin’s bid for another term in elections later this year, adding that how much her chances would be harmed would depend on how involved she is with the alleged corruption case.
Incumbent mayors or commissioners try to avoid having their ethics and morals questioned, which is particularly true for Lin, as no Yilan County commissioner has previously been involved, or alleged to be involved, in a corruption case, the sources said.
Some within the KMT have said that they are worried that the investigation would harm Lin’s chances in the year-end elections.
The KMT said that summoning Lin for questioning was a political maneuver by the DPP to ruin Lin’s reputation.
Additional reporting by Wang Ting-chuan and CNA
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