TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – New Taipei City Councilor Lin Ming-jen (林銘仁) was detained Friday (Sept. 20) as a suspect in the embezzlement of NT$5 million (US$156,000) in assistant fees.
The five-term Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politician is the second member of New Taipei City Council to face questions about the alleged illegal use of public money this week. Kuomintang (KMT) Councilor Pai Pei-ju (白珮茹) was interrogated Wednesday (Sept. 18) about similar allegations.
Prosecutors applied for Lin’s detention after raids and a night of questioning, arguing he was a serious suspect in a case of corruption and forgery, the Liberty Times reported. The New Taipei District Court agreed, ruling he should be detained incommunicado, but it released an accountant at his office surnamed Yang (楊) on bail of NT$100,000.
Lin is the son of a long-time politician in Tucheng District, and was asked by the DPP to run for a seat in the 2005 council elections following the death of his father, who had spent 41 years in politics. Prosecutors alleged that Lin and Yang misreported expenses and costs for aides totaling N$5 million between 2009 and 2016.