TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Prosecutors were investigating allegations that the speaker of Yunlin County Council accepted bribes in return for approving a wind energy project by the Taiwan office of Germany’s wpd AG, reports said Thursday (March 9).

Prosecutors applied for the detention of Speaker Shen Tsung-lung (沈宗隆) of the Kuomintang (KMT) and another KMT member of the Yunlin County Council, two aides, a senior manager at wpd’s Taiwan office, and a subcontractor, the Liberty Times reported.

The German company reportedly paid a total of NT$26 million (US$843,900) to the two KMT politicians and to two independent council members to cease their opposition to the project and help them acquire the necessary licenses, prosecutors said.

The politicians put pressure on Yunlin County government officials to change regulations and provide the permits and documents wpd required to start the wind turbine project, according to the report.

On Wednesday (March 8), investigators raided 21 locations, including the homes of the politicians and offices of wpd and its subcontractors, while taking 27 people in for questioning and confiscating phones, cash, and documents. The two independent council members and the chairperson of wpd Taiwan were released on bail, but prosecutors applied to a court for the detention of six others, including Shen.