Ex-Yuanli Township head indicted for bribery

Taipei, Sept. 24 (CNA) Former Yuanli Township chief Liu Chiu-tong (劉秋東) has been indicted for allegedly taking NT$8 million (US$250,000) in bribes related to the expansion of a columbarium when serving in the post from 2018-2022, according to the Miaoli Prosecutors Office on Tuesday.

Liu has been indicted on bribery charges for violating the Anti-Corruption Act and the Criminal Code, the office said.

Acting on a tip-off, prosecutors searched related premises in July and November last year, seizing documents and interrogating defendants and witnesses, the office said, adding that NT$8 million in alleged illegal gains was also confiscated during the investigation.

It is believed Liu illegally helped a constructor surnamed Kuo (郭) to secure the bid to build a columbarium in 2021-2022 in exchange for the bribe when serving as township chief, the office said.

To eliminate other potential bidders interested in the project, Kuo and another suspect identified as Lee (李) also illegally stockpiled sheet moulding compound (SMC), a special composite material used in the construction of columbariums, that is only manufactured and sold by two companies in Taiwan.

Sheet moulding compound is a ready to mould glass-fibre reinforced polyester material primarily used in compression moulding.

Kuo and Lee also drafted a document indicating that the SMC to be used in the project must be produced in Taiwan together with the designer and supervisor of the project identified as Tsai (蔡), with the three men believed to have colluded to exclude other bidders from the project, the office said.

Kuo later allegedly handed Liu the NT$8 million agreed upon by the two after securing the bid.

Lee, Kuo and Tsai have also been indicted on charges of leaking bidding information and profiteering.