Waste Management Plant
7 August 2012. The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office searched the southern city’s Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) on Tuesday and summoned its former chief, Lee Mu-sheng, for questioning on allegations of leaking bidding information on the recycling project. The prosecution officers stated that bribes were taken during the bidding of the plant. They are also suspected of leaking bidding information such as names on review panels and reserve prices for the builders. Lee resigned in early August after the tabloid Next Magazine reported that he had tried to solicit bribes from Dih Yeon Industrial Co., the same Kaohsiung-based company that allegedly bribed former Cabinet Secretary-General Lin Yi-shih to secure a contract from a government-run steel refinery. Meantime, Dih Yeon was fined NT$1 million (US$33,392) and ordered to close because it failed to improve pollution from its factory, the bureau said. Also on Tuesday, the Special Investigation Division summoned Lin’s wife, Peng Ai-chia, for questioning as a defendant in the case, as well as Peng’s father, Peng Wu-chou. Lin has admitted to taking NT$63 million in bribes to help facilitate a deal between Dih Yeon and China Steel Corp. for slag and waste disposal. As the contract with China Steel Corp. was ending this year, Lin had asked Dih Yeon owner Chen Chi-hsiang for a further NT$83 million to ensure a continuation of the contract, but when Chen refused to pay, Dih Yeon’s supplies were cut off, according to the magazine.
