‘CORRUPTION’: The Taitung government was said to have used public funds to build a road serving a resort owned by the family of ex-county commissioner Wu Chun-li
The Taitung District Court yesterday granted a NT$5 million (US$153,903) bail, imposed travel restrictions and ordered electronic monitoring for former Taitung County commissioner Wu Chun-li (吳俊立) after prosecutors sought his detention over alleged corruption.
The Taitung District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement it would immediately appeal the ruling, citing concerns that Wu might flee or collude with witnesses, while the accused questioned whether prosecutors were playing political games.
The move came less than six weeks before the elections for city mayors and county commissioners.
Former Taitung County commissioner Wu Chun-li, center, leaves the Taitung District Prosecutors’ Office last night.
Photo: Liu Jen-wei, Taipei Times
Wu’s younger sister, Taitung County Council Speaker Wu Hsiu-hua (吳秀華) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), is running for county commissioner.
Prosecutors filed the request at about 1am after questioning Wu, alleging that he had sought unlawful gains in matters under his authority or supervision.
They also cited the risk of flight and collusion, saying that suspected accomplices had not yet been brought before the authorities.
The statement did not offer any further details on the case or on what evidence of suspected wrongdoing there might be.
Wu’s corruption case centers on an agricultural road-widening project suspected of unlawfully benefiting a project linked to the Wu family’s interests.
The investigation began in May after independent Taitung County Councilor Lin Tsan-tien (林參天) alleged that the county government had used public funds to build a road serving the resort.
The agricultural road, which was supposed to be 3m wide, was allegedly widened to more than 9m, with state-owned land also involved in the project.
Prosecutors did not say when the road-widening project occurred, but sources indicated that it happened sometime in the past two to three years.
Prosecutors began questioning witnesses and suspects on July 16.
They have since detained several suspects, including Taitung County Agriculture Department head Hsu Chia-hao (許家豪) and then-section chief Tsai Ming-han (蔡明翰).
Also detained was Chiu Chia-ping (邱嘉平), who was Wu Hsiu-hua’s publicly funded assistant, Wu Chun-li’s secretary and a staff member at the resort involved in the case, prosecutors said.
Several county councilors, who are thought to have used their discretionary funds to finance the project, have also been implicated in the investigation, but were not summoned during the county council’s month-long regular session that began last month.
On Tuesday, Wu Chun-li was stopped from boarding a flight out of Taitung (Taitung Airport only offers domestic flights), while prosecutors searched 11 locations, including Wu Hsiu-hua’s office.
“Everyone knows what is happening when you play these games before elections,” Wu told reporters when he arrived at the prosecutors’ office on Tuesday, and urged authorities to clarify the facts of the case as soon as possible.
The Wu family is prominent in Taitung politics. Wu Chun-li’s wife, Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞), served as county commissioner from 2006 to 2009.
Wu Chun-li was elected county commissioner in 2005, but resigned about a month later after being convicted of corruption.
Higher courts later acquitted him for lack of evidence. In 2012, he was convicted of vote-buying in connection with his 2005 magistrate campaign and served a prison sentence.
He has not held any formal political position in the past few years, but local media reports said Wu Chun-li has recently ventured into stock market investments and land development.