Public prosecutors have launched an investigation into claims that New Taipei City firefighters have been taking bribes from funeral service proprietors.
Two firefighters were denied bail and put in judicial detention on Friday, while six others were questioned and later released on bail ranging from NT$50,000 to NT$300,000 (US$1,597 to US$9,583), the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said
In Taiwan, ambulance services transporting people to hospital experiencing cardiac arrest, life-threatening situations or serious injuries are handled by local fire department stations, as firefighters are front-line workers in medical emergencies alongside their responsibilities in fighting fires.
Photo: Wang Ting-chuan, Taipei Times
Tip-offs claimed that some firefighters and police officers obtained the personal information — including the names, telephone numbers and home addresses — of families whose family members had just experienced a medical emergency, passing on this personal information to proprietors in the funeral service industry, such as traditional Taoist or Buddhist organizations, and designated practitioners that conduct ritualized ceremonies.
New Taipei City prosecutors and the Ministry of Justice’s Agency Against Corruption conducted a preliminary investigation after receiving the tipoffs last year, before carrying out raids in three phases starting last month.
The raids took place at fire stations in New Taipei City Fire Department’s Second Corps Office in Sinjhuang (新莊), Shulin (樹林) and Taishan (泰山) districts, questioning firefighter officers on suspicion of taking bribes — contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), as firefighters are government-sector employees and could be charged with corruption.
Firefighters Chen Cheng-hui (陳晟輝) and Chang Yu-che (張育哲) were detained on restricted communication after questioning on Friday.
Agency Against Corruption officials said that the firefighters leaked the private information of affected families to funeral service proprietors in return for NT$5,000 to NT$15,000 per case. Some were suspected of having received more than NT$200,000 over the years.
The investigation found that some firefighters had obtained the name and contact information of patients or those who passed away, and allegedly passed the information via Line or other messaging platforms to funeral proprietors, for the funeral service firms to immediately dispatch their staff to the scene or home address to promote their funeral services.
Prosecutors alleged that the firefighters would immediately receive NT$5,000 as a commission if a funeral home had signed an agreement with the family, and others involved in the process would also receive NT$2,000.
Ministry of the Interior data from 2017 showed that regular funeral services cost about NT$250,000 to NT$400,000. Low-income families who cannot afford it can apply for a state subsidy of NT$23,000 for a funeral at their local government’s social affairs department on presentation of an official death certificate.
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