[williamchung taiwan]

Taipei City councilor suspected of corruption released on bail
2013/03/29 12:51:03





Taipei, March 29 (CNA) Taipei City Councilor Lai Su-ju was released on NT$1.2 million (US$40,183) bail early Friday pending further investigation into alleged corruption in the bidding process for the Taipei Twin Towers project.

Two other suspects in the case -- Jia Er-ching, a former official with Taipei's Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS), and Cheng Hung-tao, a construction contractor -- were also released on bail of NT$100,000 and NT$300,000, respectively.

Lai, a lawyer who also served as the director of the office maintained by President Ma Ying-jeou as chairman of the ruling Kuomintang, is suspected of having agreed to help a multinational consortium win the bid for the Twin Towers project in exchange for a promised kickback of NT$10 million.

Prosecutors allege that Cheng and Jia, on behalf of the consortium, went through one of Lai's friends to give Lai a down payment of NT$1 million in 2011.

Because the winner of the tender for the multibillion U.S. dollar project was determined by a special commission, the consortium hoped Lai could use her position as a city councilor to talk up the consortium's proposal and put it in a favorable position to get the contract, prosecutors allege.

The consortium, led by Taipei Gateway International Development, won the tender with a NT$70 billion bid last October, but it later lost its priority rights to the project in February this year after failing to put up a performance guarantee by the required deadline.

The company never paid Lai the balance of the NT$10 million it promised for winning the bid.

The Taipei Prosecutors Office summoned Lai, Cheng and Jia for questioning Wednesday and filed a request with the Taipei District Court to detain the trio to prevent collusion or the destruction of evidence.

The court denied the request in the early hours of Friday morning, instead deciding to release the three defendants on bail because it judged there was little chance of any collusion that would taint the trio's testimony.

The court said Cheng and Jia had already confessed during questioning to paying Lai a bribe, and Lai admitted to taking the NT$1 million payment though she denied wrongdoing, arguing that the money was a political donation rather than a bribe.

At the bail hearing, Lai insisted that she never lobbied the city government on the consortium's behalf but simply offered the city advice on the project.

Prosecutors said they respected the court's ruling but vowed to appeal it.

According to the court ruling, the three suspects are not allowed to change their residences in Taiwan without prior permission and are barred from leaving the country.

Known as one of President Ma's most trusted aides and legal consultants, Lai said after her release that she would fully cooperate in follow-up investigations to clear her name.

Lai also resigned from all of her KMT posts, including those of director of the KMT chairman's office and deputy head of the party's information department, "to avoid creating problems for her superiors," she said.

Ma apologized for Lai's alleged involvement in the graft case in his capacity as KMT chairman early Friday.

The Taipei Prosecutors Office said it discovered suspicious dealings involving the Taipei Twin Towers project as early as two years ago.

A special task force was then formed to investigate the matter and collect evidence, the office said.

The investigations hit a snag last December, however, when the issue went public after Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying filed a complaint with the prosecutors' office, alleging that the Twin Towers tender was marred by corruption and irregularities.

The complaint drew intense media attention, leading to a disruption of the investigation, prosecutors said. Since then, nearly half of their leads have been cut off or lost, they said.

"Some of the suspects in the case have since become far more cautious and have even changed their cell phone numbers," a prosecutor said.

Prosecutors said it was the right time to move against the suspects now that the winning bidder had lost its right to undertake the development project.

More than 100 prosecutors and agents from the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau raided dozens of locations Wednesday, including Lai's offices and residences, and seized many documents, sources in the prosecutors office said.

The Twin Towers project, to be located near Taipei Railway Station, was designed to link the city's railway lines, metro systems and bus terminals and serve as the hub for the MRT line that will connect Taipei to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

The city hoped that the two buildings would be completed by 2018.

(By Tsai Pei-chi and Sofia Wu)
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