Yunlin County Council speaker detained on bribery allegations

Taipei, July 5 (CNA) Yunlin County Council Speaker Huang Kai (黃凱) was detained and held incommunicado Friday on suspicion of accepting a bribe in exchange for helping a company get a license for its solar power plant.

Huang was ordered detained by the New Taipei District Court based on a request by New Taipei prosecutors after they provided evidence suggesting that Huang took bribes from Kuo Jin Energy Co. Ltd. (國金能源股份有限公司), the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office said.

The judge granted the motion after concluding that Huang could potentially tamper with evidence.

On Thursday, New Taipei prosecutor Chou Yi-Jun (周懿君) led officials from the Investigation Bureau's New Taipei office on a raid of 40 locations across western Taiwan from Tainan to Taipei and seized NT$2.32 million (US$71,533) in cash and several items, including two SUVs, and five name-brand watches.

It was estimated that the entire case involved more than NT$10 million in bribes.

On the same day as the raids, Huang and 21 others, including Yunlin County government workers and those from the green energy industry including a man surnamed Lien (連), were brought in for questioning.

Prosecutors suspect that Huang violated the Anti-Corruption Act by accepting bribes and engaging in money laundering, offenses carrying a jail sentence of at least five years, prompting the request to hold him incommunicado.

According to an investigation by prosecutors, Huang accepted bribes from Lien and facilitated the issuance of an operating license for his company's solar photovoltaic power plant located in Taihsi Township, Yunlin County.

Prosecutors said Lee Chun-hsing (李俊興), head of the Yunlin County government's Economic Affairs Department, leaked internal county reviews of other applications to set up green power plants to Huang, who allegedly set up a shell company to accept the bribes.

If found guilty, Huang would follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Shen Tsung-lung (沈宗隆) of the Kuomintang.

The former Yunlin County Council speaker resigned from the post in October 2023 after pleading guilty to accepting bribes from a wind power company during an earlier investigation that year.

Huang assumed his post following a by-election.

Lien, meanwhile, has been placed under home confinement, while the other six people suspected of handing out bribes were released, and Lee was released on NT$200,000 bail.

Individuals allegedly involved in Huang's shell company and money laundering activities, including an assistant surnamed Chou (周) and one of his family members, were released on bail ranging from NT$100,000 to NT$200,000.