Changhua: Six people, including four current and former servicemen, have been indicted on corruption charges, prosecutors in Changhua County said Thursday. The defendants are accused of colluding with a broker to solicit bribes from green energy contractors for a solar panel project.
According to Focus Taiwan, the Changhua District Prosecutors Office identified the four servicemen as a logistics officer lieutenant colonel named Hsu, a retired officer named Yeh, a sergeant named Chen, and a captain named Tsai. In August and September 2022, Hsu allegedly directed the broker, another individual named Chen, to invite contractors to submit bids and collect bribes.
A green energy contractor, identified as Huang, won the bid with an offer of NT$200 million (US$6 million), half of which was a bribe, prosecutors stated. Huang initially considered withdrawing from the deal due to high costs and low potential profitability after inspecting the proposed site. However, Huang later renegotiated a contract worth NT$130 million to continue the project.
After receiving a tip-off in the same year, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) launched an internal investigation, which temporarily halted the project. Nonetheless, prosecutors alleged that the broker Chen used his connections to restart the project, with Tsai taking over the new bidding process.
The prosecutors' investigation, which concluded on March 26, was led by Chen Ding-wen, who collaborated with the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau and the Agency Against Corruption. All six defendants were indicted for crimes related to bribery and receiving unlawful profits under Taiwan's Anti-Corruption Act.
Prosecutors revealed that Yeh and the broker Chen face sentences of up to nine years, while Sergeant Chen faces eight years in prison.