Ex-official charged in land grab gets bail

[BalanceOfPower]

Ex-official charged in land grab gets bail

By Katherine Wei , The China Post
December 5, 2013, 12:24 am TWN

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Former National Property Administration Director General Hung Bao-chuan (洪寶川) was listed as a defendant in an illegal land-grab case that involved the brother of Miaoli County magistrate Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) yesterday, and was released on NT$1 million bail.

Liu Cheng-hung's brother, Liu Cheng-chi, (劉政池) was recently reported by a Miaoli County council member for illegally building a villa on state-owned land in Yangmingshan, and his property was searched by the Shilin District Prosecutors Office (SDPO) shortly after the report surfaced. Prosecutors discovered a blocked-off tunnel in a cellar that led to Liu's Yangmingshan property.

Liu and 17 family members were brought to the prosecutors office for questioning on Nov. 14, after the prosecution raided his Yangmingshan mansion. Liu Cheng-chi's two daughters were discharged by the prosecutors on total bail of NT$3 million after four hours of questioning.

Twenty-six former and current National Property Administration officials were summoned by the SDPO for questioning on Tuesday; the officials were pressed on prosecutors' suspicions that they had secretly aided Liu in obtaining the public land.

Among the questioned officials, 25 were allowed to return home, while Hung was accused of profiteering and listed as a defendant in the case as he was suspected of allowing Liu priority in renting property in order to facilitate his subsequent acquisition of the land.

Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Ho Chih-wei (何志偉) also alleged that Liu Cheng-chih violated the Soil and Water Conservation Act (水土保持法) and the National Park Act (國家公園法) by building on public land.