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.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
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
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