Taipei City Councilor Chen Chung-wen (陳重文) was indicted on Friday for allegedly fraudulently obtaining NT$3.21 million (US$98,075) from a government contract.
After several months of investigation, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen, 46, who represents Taipei’s Shilin (士林) and Beitou (北投) districts for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), under the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
The case involves Taiwan Intelligent Fiber Optic Network Consortium (TAIFO), which was awarded a 25-year contract by the Taipei City Government in 2011 to build a fiber optic network in the capital, as part of a smart city project, when Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) of the KMT was mayor from 2006 to 2014.
Photo: Chen Tsai-ling, Taipei Times
Recognizing that there were lucrative profits to be gained from TAIFO’s relationship with the city government, Chen and a friend named Kang Li-chi (康立錡) set up a new company last year to partake in the project, the prosecutors said.
Kang was named as its director, although Chen was the real boss, the prosecutors added.
This firm received various contracts connected to TAIFO’s business deals with the city government, prosecutors said.
From April to June last year, Chen pressured the Taipei Department of Social Welfare on multiple occasions to award TAIFO a contract to install cloud-based surveillance systems at the city’s public childcare care centers, prosecutors said.
With the contract awarded to TAIFO, due to Chen’s pressure, the company then subcontracted the project to Kang, who passed it to Vqorder Co, a New Taipei-based company also registered under his name, to carry out the work, prosecutors said.
Through this arrangement, each party involved was able to take a share of the contract, prosecutors said, adding that Chen allegedly made NT$3.21 million in illegal gains through the deal, prosecutors said.
On Friday, Chen and Kang were indicted for corruption and intent to directly or indirectly seek unlawful gains, they added.
Meanwhile, a separate case which began in March involving TAIFO and its supply of surveillance cameras used by the Taipei police is still being investigated, prosecutors said.
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