The Penghu County section head of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) was detained yesterday evening on corruption charges, ministry officials said last night.
Chen Chi-yuan (陳麒元) has been accused of taking bribes from families of prisoners and detained suspects upon the reports of a whistle-blower.
MJIB officials formed a task force in collaboration with the Agency Against Corruption and Kaohsiung prosecutors to investigate the accusations.
Taipei Times file photo
The allegations date back to when Chen served as an MJIB investigator in Chiayi City.
Chen has been removed from his position while an investigation into the matter continues, MJIB Director Wang Chun-li (王俊力) said yesterday.
“The MJIB does not permit officer misconduct, and those who have engaged in unlawful actions will be punished without leniency,” Wang said.
“We demand strict discipline from our officers to comply with the law, as they serve as examples for society at large,” he said.
Kaohsiung prosecutors and corruption agency investigators have reportedly found evidence that Chen received up to NT$200,000 in bribes from 2019 to 2021 when he served in Chiayi City.
Chen allegedly took bribes in exchange for granting advantages to inmates and their lawyers, investigators said.
Favors Chen allegedly gave included temporary leave to meet with spouses and children, and to make telephone calls to deal with personal matters, investigators said.
Chen took advantage of his responsibility to ensure that inmates are properly detained and escorted to trial hearings.
Investigators said the alleged actions breached the Regulations Governing the Transfer of Prisoners (監獄受刑人移監作業辦法), while the bribery allegations could be prosecuted under the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
After overnight questioning by the Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office in Kaohsiung, Chen was detained and held incommunicado, while two other suspects surnamed Chen (陳) and Chiang (江) were remanded into custody, officials said.
Additional reporting by Chien Li-chung
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
RSS