Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) yesterday complained of political persecution, while critics urged her to come clean on allegations of illegal financial dealings.
New revelations came to light in a corruption investigation into Lin and several Yilan County officials. Investigators have tracked down about NT$100 million (US$3.43 million) in money transfers to Lin and members of her family over the past two decades from former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Yang Chi-hsiung (楊吉雄).
Investigators alleged that the money have gone to Lin’s two bank accounts, but she did not declare the money as assets, as required by law for elected government officials, a report yesterday by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) said.
Photo: CNA
Yilan prosecutors launched the corruption probe in January, conducting raids and gathering evidence. During questioning, Yang denied any improper dealings, saying the money transfers were loans to Lin and did not break any law.
The “loans” involved more than 100 money transfers over 20 years for a total of NT$100 million.
Prosecutors alleged that these were bribes or illegal political contributions for Yang and his business associates to buy political influence or secure public contracts, reaping kickbacks or other financial benefits, as Lin was elected Yilan County commissioner in 2018, placing her in charge of the county’s finance and budget, and overseeing many construction projects.
Before serving as commissioner, Lin, representing the KMT, had served as Luodong Township (羅東) mayor and Yilan County councilor.
Prosecutors said there were many questionable aspects to the money flow, and might have involved dealings in properties and other assets, as Yang and Lin are the heads of two leading political families with large business holdings.
The investigation has so far uncovered complicated financial dealings and an overlap in the commercial interests of the Yang and Lin families, including Yang serving as a partner and board member of Yi Hsing Mining Co, which is owned by Lin’s daughter.
Yilan residents have filed complaints against the company for forced land appropriation, illegal quarrying and logging on protected forests, resulting in flash flooding and property damage to downstream areas.
Lin denied at a news briefing yesterday that she had received NT$100 million from Yang, calling the allegation political persecution.
Yilan prosecutors in a news release said the case is under investigation and the public should refrain from speculation.
Prosecutors working with the Agency Against Corruption said that Lin and more than 30 government officials and contractors had been summoned for questioning, and that they might be charged with corruption, bribery, money laundering, and other offenses relating to forgery, bid rigging, possessing personal assets of unknown origin and financial irregularities relating to public projects.
One of the projects is the NT$5 billion, 105-hectare economic renewal project in Luodong, with land appropriation and rezoning by the county government suspected of illegally profiting land owners and government officials.
Yang is reportedly also a partner at Luodong-based Po Kang Co, a Lin family-owned business that offers job training and education programs, as well as other technology companies that have profited from public projects tendered by the Yilan County Government.
Chiang Tsung-yuan (江聰淵), a member of the Yilan chapter of the Democratic Progressive Party, said that NT$100 million is a large sum of money, so Lin must tell the public where it came from and what it had been spent on.
The public would like to know if the money had been spent for personal use, campaign expenditure, or to accrue more political and business benefits, Chiang said.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit the UK during her ongoing European trip, which originally included only Lithuania and Denmark, her office said today. Tsai departed Taiwan for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark, marking her second visit to the continent since her two-term presidency ended in May last year. Her office issued a statement today saying that Tsai would also visit the UK "for a few days," during which she is to meet with UK politicians and Taiwanese professionals, and visit academic and research institutions. Following Tsai's stop in Denmark, she is to visit the
RSS