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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Eric Chu’s former deputy questioned in bribery probe
Former New Taipei City deputy mayor Hsu Chih-chien is sent to the Taipei District Prosecutor’s Office last night for further questioning. Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
By Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday led a joint taskforce with the Agency Against Corruption （AAC） and searched the residences and offices of former New Taipei City deputy mayor Hsu Chih-chien （許志堅） and other companies suspected of involvement in a bribery scandal.
Hsu was later sent to the Taipei District Prosecutor’s Office for further questioning.
Hsu is suspected of taking bribes from Formosa 21 Construction Co （寶興建設） when handling a case applying for an urban renewal project along Beiyi Road from 2011 to last year, and Le Young Construction Co （樂揚建設）, which took an urban renewal project near Jieshou Road in New Taipei City’s Banciao District （板橋）.
The Jieshou Road project was the better known of the two cases, as it was the old site of the Banciao District’s cleaning crew.
The municipality stood to gain NT$1.7 billion （US$54.1 million） in terms of property and the project would have posed the least burden on the local government in all municipal-headed urban renewal projects to date, the office said.
Hsu was further accused of assisting the construction companies by making illegal resolutions or expediting review processes, the district prosecutors’ office said.
Hsu stepped down as deputy mayor in June last year.
He previously held the positions of New Taipei City urban renewal project review committee director-general and New Taipei City urban planning committee deputy director-general.
New Taipei City government’s Urban Regeneration Office Deputy-Director Hsieh Teng-wu （謝登武） said later yesterday that the local government would cooperate fully with the judicial investigation and provide any requested materials.
Hsieh added that the urban renewal review committee was reviewing both cases handled by Hsu and neither of them had been approved.
Hsu was tapped by Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） Legislator Tuan Yi-kang （段宜康） as being a potential investigation candidate when Hsu served on the municipal appropriate housing review committee in Banciao last year when the affordable housing incident in then Taoyuan County’s Bade City （八德） arose.
Former Deputy County commissioner Yeh Shi-wen （葉世文） faced a charge of unverifiable sources of income for taking bribes in the case.
“I could vouch for my innocence in the matter, but could not do so for the entire case,” Hsu reportedly said in response to New Taipei City councilors’ questions.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
