KMT lawmaker Sra Kacaw indicted for corruption

Taipei, Dec. 24 (CNA) Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker Sra Kacaw (鄭天財), also known as Jeng Tian-tsair, was indicted for allegedly receiving NT$7.11 million (US$222,476) in bribes between 2020 and 2023, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office said Wednesday.

According to the indictment document, Sra Kacaw, an Amis, was charged with violating the Anti-Corruption Act and the Money Laundering Control Act for pocketing the illicit funds from nine businessmen from the green energy, real estate and customs brokerage industries.

His office assistant, Chang Teng-lung (張騰龍), was also charged, while eight of the nine businessmen were each given a two-year deferred prosecution and are required to pay fines ranging from NT$700,000 to NT$2 million and attend education classes about the law.

The charge against the other businessman was not pursued as he has already died, prosecutors said.

The indictment said that Sra Kacaw had been elected four times as a lawmaker and should have known better.

Instead, the legislator from Hualien took bribes from businessmen and pressured government agencies to help them, prosecutors said.

Sra Kacaw's actions "caused serious harm to fairness and integrity, and undermined the country's constitutional system, democracy and rule of law," prosecutors said.

They are seeking a jail term of more than 10 years for the lawmaker.

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office launched an investigation in the second half of 2024 into allegations that Sra Kacaw received money from businessmen via his assistant beginning December 2020.

Those who paid bribes were named special assistants to the lawmaker in a bid to promote their businesses, while Sra Kacaw and Chang provided assistance to them by coordinating with government agencies.

After Chang was detained in July 2023 in another case in which he allegedly handled bribes for an official at the Construction and Planning Administration, one of the nine businessmen took over Chang's job to collect bribes on Sra Kacaw's behalf.

The funds were disguised as donations to Indigenous harvest festivals, prosecutors said.