TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A former Taichung police officer has been charged for failing to prevent the operation of a brothel posing as a skincare business.
Lin (林), a former cop with Taichung City Police Department's First Precinct, was implicated in a 2013 case under suspicion of covering up a brothel posing as a skincare business with his colleague Tsai (蔡), per CNA.
Tsai, who had previously been charged and convicted by Taiwan High Court's Taichung Branch Court, served as a police officer at the First Precinct's Minquan Substation in 2013 alongside Lin. Tsai was sentenced, while Lin was not prosecuted due to insufficient evidence.
New evidence that emerged during a recent court investigation pointed to Lin's involvement and led the prosecution to charge him with dereliction of duty.
According to the indictment from the Taichung District Prosecutors Office, a woman surnamed Lai (賴) operated a brothel posing as a skincare business in Taichung City from April 2012. She facilitated sexual transactions for multiple women and had previously been apprehended by the police. Both Tsai and Lin were acquainted with Lai.
In February 2013, Tsai and Lai became a couple. In November of the same year, Tsai learned that the police planned to raid Lai's skincare business.
He informed Lai of the operation and conspired with Lin to conduct an unofficial investigation under the pretext of violating social order laws, to minimize losses for the business. After an expanded police investigation, it was discovered that Tsai had leaked information to Lai.
A recent review of surveillance and dialogue records by Taichung District Court revealed that Tsai and Lin had colluded to arrange fake male clients to cooperate with the police investigation. This was done to produce inaccurate field investigation reports and prevent the discovery of any offenses under obscenity laws, CNA reported.
In light of this new evidence, the Taichung District Prosecutors Office has determined that Lin was significantly involved in the cover-up and based on witness statements and surveillance records, charged him with dereliction of duty.
