Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙), former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Yang Chi-hsiung (楊吉雄) and two Yilan government officials were yesterday released on bail after being questioned in relation to a corruption case.
An investigation by Yilan prosecutors and the Ministry of Justice’s Agency Against Corruption has named Lin, a KMT member, as a suspect for the alleged possession of assets of unknown origin in connection with property development projects in the county’s Luodong Township (羅東).
Prosecutors told the media following the bail hearing that the judges saw sufficient evidence of Lin’s involvement in the case, but had no need to place her under judicial detention.
Photo: CNA
They released her on bail of NT$800,000 (US$28,690), while Yang and his younger brother were released after posting bail of NT$1.5 million each.
Following questioning, Lin Zi-miao’s son, Lin Yu-tse (林佑澤), was released on NT$2 million bail, while the county government’s Economic Affairs Department section head Lung Fei-chih (龍非池) was released on NT$150,000 bail.
The court released Lin’s daughter, Lin Yi-ling (林羿伶), and the county’s Bureau of Agriculture Director Kang Li-ho (康立和) without bail.
Prosecutors said they are looking at alleged contraventions of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), which could lead to charges of illegal profiteering by civil servants, along with tampering and destroying evidence, against Lin Zi-miao and the other suspects.
Investigators have examined several property development projects over allegations of profiteering through value-added tax exemptions in 2019, prosecutors said, adding that some aspects of the plans were altered in the following year.
Several millions of New Taiwan dollars were allegedly transferred in and out of a bank account under Lin Zi-miao’s control in the past few years, they said, adding that Lin had increased her wealth and assets to levels far beyond what her salary could allow.
Agency Against Corruption officials and Yilan prosecutors in the middle of last month conducted searches and served summons to more than 30 people for questioning as persons of interest and witnesses in the case. Two officials have since been detained: Yilan County Department of Economic Affairs Acting Director Wu Chao-chin (吳朝琴) and the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Affairs Director Wu Tung-yuan (吳東原).
Others taken in for questioning last month included other county officials, along with Luodong Township (羅東) Mayor Wu Chiu-ling (吳秋齡) and former Yilan County councilor Liu Shih-chun (劉石純), both of the KMT.
They also included Lin’s daughter, Lin Yi-lin, and former KMT National Assembly representative for the county Lin Shu-mei (林束梅), who is Lin Zi-miao’s cousin.
Lin Zi-miao did not answer reporters’ questions upon her release yesterday, while Yang said the probe is political persecution against himself, Lin Zi-miao and other officials.
The KMT released a statement accusing the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of perverting the justice system as a tool to persecute the opposition and taint KMT politicians ahead of local elections later this year.
DPP Yilan County Chapter director Chen Chun-yu (陳俊宇) said: “KMT officials always decry political persecution when their politicians get implicated in corruption cases, no matter in an election year or not.”
“We ask the judiciary to conduct a thorough probe of Lin Zi-miao’s personal assets of unknown origin, as people want to have a county commissioner with clean ethics, and not use her office to benefit herself and her family,” he said.
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