DPP Taipei City councilor indicted over corruption charges

Taipei, June 3 (CNA) The Shilin District Prosecutors Office on Tuesday indicted Taipei City Councilor Chen E-jun (陳怡君) on charges of accepting bribes and misusing public funds.

The councilor, a member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and her assistant Chang Hui-lin (張惠霖) were accused of accepting bribes from Pinchia Construction Co., Ltd. between August 2023 and February 2025, according to a statement from the prosecutors office.

Pinchia's representative Hu Wei-liang (胡偉良) and president Kao Ming-yi (高明義) were also indicted for offering bribes to Chen and Chang in exchange for expediting the issuance of construction permits for a site in Datong District, the statement said.

Prosecutors said Hu and Kao hired Chang as a company consultant and paid her monthly fees totaling over NT$700,000 (US$23,351).

In return, Chen and Chang pressured Taipei City Government departments overseeing reviews and construction to expedite administrative procedures, prosecutors said. They also used the city councilor's office as a cover to request assistance with tasks such as street tree transplantation and temporary utility integration.

Prosecutors said Kao admitted to recruiting Chang because civil servants tended to be more responsive when a city councilor was involved in monitoring construction progress.

Prosecutors added that Chang admitted to receiving money from Pinchia and assisting the company with constituent services, as well as relaying urban renewal needs to Kao.

Also on Tuesday, Chen and Chang were indicted for fraudulently claiming over NT$3.84 million in assistant salaries. The two have been held incommunicado since February, as the Shilin District Court cited concerns over potential collusion and evidence tampering.

Three other individuals, all family members of Chen and Chang, were also indicted for allegedly allowing their names to be used as assistants in the salary fraud scheme, according to prosecutors.

The three admitted to not actually serving as councilor assistants, while both Chen and Chang confessed during the investigation, prosecutors said. The two also voluntarily returned the full amount of the misappropriated assistant salaries.