An investigator carries a box of documents from the Keelung City Council yesterday. Photo: Lu Hsien-hsiu, Taipei Times

By Lu Hsien-hsiu and Jason Pan / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Eighteen Keelung city councilors, along with city officials, were caught up in a judicial probe yesterday for allegedly receiving bribes from a property developer to gain approval for a real-estate construction project.

As of yesterday evening, the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office had detained four city officials for questioning, including the heads of the Keelung government’s construction bureau and civil engineering section.

They had also questioned 18 city councilors, nearly two-thirds of the 31 elected members of the Keelung City Council.

Late last night, the prosecutors’ office listed all 18 as defendants in the case.

Those caught up in the investigation were councilors from both the pan-blue and pan-green camps, including prominent figures such as Keelung City Council Secretary-General Yeh Ching-tung （葉景棟）, and councilors Chen Chiang-shan （陳江山）, Hsieh Shou-nan （謝守男） and Yang Shih-cheng （楊石城）.

The case involves a property developer suspected of paying bribes to Keelung officials and councilors to win approval for an urban development project on Yuemei Road （月眉路）, which included widening the road and building of new infrastructure.

Yesterday’s operation involved 140 personnel from the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office, along with the Ministry of Justice’s Mobile Squad for Northern Taiwan and the Agency Against Corruption.

Investigators raided the Keelung City Council building at about 8am, gathering documents and other evidence, while other personnel visited the homes of councilors to search for evidence.

According to news reports, most of the councilors were initially against the Yuemei Road development project, but changed their minds after negotiations with the developer.

（This story has been updated since it was first published.）

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES

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