Taiwanese prosecutors searched the legislative office of Kuomintang lawmaker Chen Hsueh-sheng on Monday over allegations of corruption, taking away his brother, three staff members and multiple boxes of evidence. The Taipei District Prosecutors Office acted on a complaint, with Tseng Yang-ling, chief prosecutor of its anti-corruption division, leading the morning search. Chen Hsueh-huai, the legislator's younger brother and the director of his office, was removed at about 2.40pm along with assistants and a secretary, CNA reported.
The inquiry centres on two allegations. Chen is suspected of having contractors cover the salaries of private aides, an arrangement described in the complaint as vendors "keeping" his assistants, and of lobbying on those contractors' behalf. He is also suspected of listing relatives and associates as nominal staff in order to claim public assistant subsidies, Liberty Times reported.
The operation was wider than the single office. Prosecutors directed the Investigation Bureau to move in 35 teams, searching premises simultaneously in Taipei, Matsu and Kinmen, and summoned 27 people for questioning, among them Chen and his brother. The search of his Legislative Yuan research office alone ran for about six hours before investigators left with his brother and the seized material at around 3pm.
Accounts of the timing differ slightly between the two outlets covering the search. CNA placed the removal of Chen Hsueh-huai and the three staff members at about 2.40pm, while Liberty Times put the departure with the brother and the seized material at around 3pm, after a six-hour search. Both describe the same office and the same set of people.
The 27 people named have been summoned for questioning rather than detained, and no charges have been filed. Chen has not responded publicly to the allegations in either account.
