Former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) was released on bail of NT$28 million (US$875,575) in Taoyuan today after being indicted on corruption charges the day before.
Cheng had been held incommunicado since he was detained by authorities in Taoyuan based on a court order on July 11.
Photo: Chou Min-hung, Taipei Times
As part of the conditions of his release, Cheng is required to remain at his residence and is not allowed to leave the country for eight months, prosecutors said.
He is also forbidden from making contact with witnesses or other defendants in the case.
In addition to Cheng, four other suspects involved in the case who had been detained were also released on bail today.
Hou Shui-wen (侯水文), former executive general manager of Formosa Plastics Group, was released on NT$2.05 million bail, while Liao Chun-sung (廖俊松), former head of an industrial zone planning committee in New Taipei City's Linkou District (林口), was released on NT$1.1 million bail.
Two of Liao's sons, Liao Chia-hsing (廖家興) and Liao Li-ting (廖力廷), were also released on bail of NT$600,000 and NT$250,000 respectively.
At a news conference yesterday, the Taoyuan District Prosecutors' Office recommended a 12-year jail sentence for Cheng for allegedly receiving a NT$5 million bribe while serving as Taoyuan mayor to broker an industrial development project in the city's Hwa Ya Technology Park.
Following the indictments, the case was transferred to the Taoyuan District Court which held a hearing at 9:30pm the same day.
At 1:30am the court ruled that Cheng be granted bail of NT$28 million, the highest bail amount given to any political figure in recent years.
A lawyer representing Cheng brought the bail money at about 2:41am and the visibly-tired former vice premier left the court without speaking to reporters at about 5am.
Cheng is also under investigation in a separate case, after N$6.78 million in cash was discovered at his Taipei residence during a search by prosecutors on July 29.
Cheng, 57, served as vice premier from Jan. 31 last year to May 20. Before that, he was the first major of the newly established Taoyuan special municipality from 2014 to 2022.
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
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
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS