CRIME
Three officers indicted
Three officers from the Military Intelligence Bureau have been indicted on suspicion of making up sources to claim performance bonuses totaling NT$16.4 million (US$528,759), the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Three officers — a male lieutenant colonel surnamed Su (蘇), a male lieutenant colonel surnamed Hsu (徐) and a female officer surnamed Chiang (江) — were indicted on corruption, forgery and money laundering charges. The trio were involved in a similar scheme for which Su (蘇) and a female colonel of the same surname were indicted last year, prosecutors said. The two Su’s allegedly received more than NT$10 million in performance rewards by providing fabricated intelligence supposedly obtained from “Liang Fang” (梁方), a fictitious Chinese intelligence officer, prosecutors said. A subsequent investigation found that Chiang and Hsu also worked with the male Su to similarly obtain performance bonuses, prosecutors added. The male Su and Chiang claimed NT$10 million in bonuses from 2016 to last year, while the other Su and Hsu claimed NT$1.4 million from 2017 to 2021, prosecutors said. In addition, the male Su also fraudulently claimed NT$1.9 million and US$100,000 between 2018 and 2019, prosecutors said.
SOCIETY
Lottery tickets unclaimed
Owners of seven unclaimed NT$10 million and five unclaimed NT$2 million winning receipts from Taiwan’s July-August invoice lottery last year have until today to claim their prizes, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. The unclaimed NT$10 million winning receipts include a NT$26 receipt issued by a 7-Eleven in Hsinchu’s East District (東區), a NT$55 receipt issued by a beverage shop in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯), and an NT$89 purchase of drinks and bread at a 7-Eleven in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重). The eight-digit serial number that won the NT$10 million special prize in the July-August lottery was 21981893, the ministry said. Meanwhile, receipts of the five unclaimed NT$2 million grand prizes include a NT$33 spend issued by Apple’s App Store, a NT$85 receipt issued by Mos Burger in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), and a NT$242 receipt issued by a 7-Eleven in Taoyuan’s Taoyuan District (桃園). The other two are a NT$1,573 receipt issued by a steakhouse in Taichung’s Nantun District (南屯), and an NT$190 receipt for a top-up at a FamilyMart in Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港). The serial number for the NT$2 million grand prize was 39597522.
SOCIETY
Eleven days off this year
Workers are to have a total of 11 days off work, excluding weekends, for the celebration of public holidays this year, the Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday. In addition to New Year’s Day, the 10 other public holidays this year are the four-day Lunar New Year holiday, Feb. 28 Peace Memorial Day, Children’s Day, Tomb Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Double Ten National Day, the ministry said in a press release. However, workers in the private sector, including banks and financial markets, are to receive an extra day off on Labor Day in May. Meanwhile, the ministry said indigenous people are also to receive one day off to celebrate an Indigenous Ceremonial Holiday, with dates to be announced by the Council of Indigenous Peoples based on indigenous communities’ customs. If a public holiday falls on a weekend, workers are to be compensated with a day off, in accordance with the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) and other regulations, the ministry said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
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