Taipei, July 5 (CNA) Premier Sean Chen said Thursday that government agencies and companies in which the government has a controlling stake should establish or reinforce existing internal control and audit mechanisms to prevent corruption.

At a meeting of the Central Anti-Corruption Committee, which was created in 2008, Chen said he had instructed heads of various agencies to personally host anti-corruption meetings within their organizations and report anti-corruption results to the committee.

Public agencies should reinforce their internal control and audit mechanisms, Chen said, while urging companies in which the government has a controlling share to do so to increase transparency in the workforce.

The premier also expressed deep regret over former Cabinet Secretary-General Lin Yi-shih's bribery scandal, and said that he hoped the anti-corruption seminar scheduled for July 7 can help all public servants understand professional ethics and regulations pertaining to taking bribes.

Lin has been detained over accusations that he accepted a bribe of NT$63 million (US$2.1 million) from businessman Chen Chi-hsiang to help Chen's company secure a slag treatment contract from a subsidiary of Taiwan-based China Steel, in which the government has a controlling stake.

He is accused of demanding a further NT$$83 million, but was rejected by Chen.

On Thursday night, Lin's wife, TV news anchor Peng Ai-chia, was listed as a defendant on charges of suspicion of violating the anti-corruption act, money-laundering act and the criminal code. She was released on a NT$1 million bail.

Lin's mother, Shen Juo-lan, voluntarily submitted Wednesday NT$18 million in Taiwanese currency that she received from Lin to prosecutors. Shen was also listed as a defendant and was released on a NT$2 million bail.

(By Justin Su and Jamie Wang)
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