Two Associates of Su Tseng-chang Involved in TaiRail Scandal Case

News Analysis

Two Associates of Su Tseng-chang Involved in TaiRail Scandal Case

Sources: Taipei newspapers

May 28, 2008

The prosecutors and investigators investigating Taiwan Railway Administration’s “Chao Chow Project” scandal reached a significant breakthrough. They discovered that suspect Yang Min-yu conspired with Ching Chih-ju, the fugitive who masterminded the diplomatic fund scandal involving Papua New Guinea, to bribe senior officials and members of the project review committee. Worried that he might become a victim of political persecution, Yang consented to become a suspect-turned-prosecution-witness on May 20, the day that the turnover of ruling parties took place. He stated that two associates of former DPP Vice Presidential candidate Su Tseng-chang, Lin Si-yao and Chang Hong-lu, were also involved, and Chang took a bribe of NT$ 500,000.

Both Lin and Chang denied the accusations yesterday. However, the prosecutors intended to summon Chang Hong-lu, and they did not rule out the possibility of questioning Lin Si-yao for further explanations.

In 2006, the Railway Reconstruction Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications called for bids in a public tender on a NT$ 130 million improvement project for fast rail service between Kaohsiung and Pingtung. The call for bids received three tenders. In August the same year, Chao-lin Construction Co. was awarded the project. However, the prosecutors and investigators discovered that Yang Min-yu, owner of the Cheng-yao Construction Consultancy Co. had in fact obtained the list of the 7-member committee responsible for reviewing the bids as early as May. He even conspired with Tu Tung-chow, former chief secretary of the Railway Reconstruction Bureau and now advisor of the Ya-hsin Construction Consultancy Co., to bribe the committee members.

The prosecutors and investigators also determined that Tseng Bai-chih, owner of the Hong-wei Consultancy Co. and a main DPP donor, kept close contacts with one former Minister of State of the Executive Yuan for quite a long time. They suspected that Tseng Bai-chih obtained the list of the review committee members in order to make political contributions to the members as bribes. The prosecutors had confiscated some questionable receipts and crucial documents, and the court yesterday agreed to detain Tseng Bai-chih after interrogation.

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