A former official of the Taipei Mortuary Services Office and a technician on Thursday were found guilty of bribery and collusion by the Taipei District Court.
The court handed former Burial and Cemetery Management Section chief Ou Yang Keng-sheng (歐陽更生) a 14-month sentence, and section technician Sun Pei-jen (孫佩仁) 16 months for forgery and abuse of authority for personal profit.
They were among more than a dozen mortuary staff who were investigated and indicted in July following a judicial probe into allegations of bribery and corruption at the Taipei City Government office.
Photo: Chien Li-chung, Taipei Times
Six other staff and technicians, plus seven contractors, have yet to be sentenced following an indictment in July for accepting bribes since 2019.
Among those investigated were Taipei Mortuary Services Office deputy director Wang Wen-hsiu (王文秀), who prosecutors allege took bribes from companies that conducted business at Taipei’s two public funeral parlors. She was placed in judicial detention yesterday.
Prosecutors said that Wang in 2020 and last year accepted bribes amounting to several million New Taiwan dollars in return for leaking government tender details to several bidding contractors.
Prosecutors said that Wang allegedly helped the companies win bids for constructing the mortuary office’s Life Memorial Hall and expanding a parking lot at the Taipei City Second Funeral Parlor, among other projects.
While investigating officials and technicians earlier this year, prosecutors said they discovered communication between Wang and bidders that allegedly showed collusion.
Seven people were detained for questioning on Tuesday.
The Taipei Mortuary Services Office oversees the city’s two public funeral parlors, providing burial and cremation services, in addition to administering facilities and regulating the funeral industry.
The investigation follows other scandals and public complaints regarding the mortuary offices in Taipei and other regions.
Rival companies have reportedly fought for territory, at times involving firearms incidents.
Kuo Hsien-hung (郭憲鴻), a well-known industry figure, once said that many funeral businesses in Taiwan are run by criminal organizations.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS