Tax official, others indicted over bribes
GOLD, HOMES: An auditor was accused of colluding with accountants to facilitate tax avoidance in return for cash, while others returned millions in illicit proceeds
By Chen Chien-chih and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
A National Taxation Bureau of the Central Area official and others were indicted yesterday on corruption and other charges.
Prosecutors said that the case against auditor Wang Chih-yi (王志益) is the first corruption case in central Taiwan to be tried under the citizen judge system.
Wang was accused of abusing his position by colluding with accountants to allow taxpayers and companies to avoid paying individual and corporate income taxes without facing penalties, the indictment said.
Gold bars seized from a National Taxation Bureau official are pictured in Taichung in an undated photograph.
Photo copied by Chen Chien-chih, Taipei Times
In return, Wang allegedly accepted invitations to meals and overseas trips, five pieces of gold, merchandise certificates and gift certificates worth NT$200,000 (US$6,308), the indictment said.
Cash totaling NT$12.8 million was seized, it said.
Prosecutors said that NT$5 million for a deposit on a luxury pre-sale home in Taichung’s Nantun District (南屯) was likely proceeds from criminal activity after he failed to prove the lawful source of the funds.
Authorities have notified the developer as they seek a court order to seize the funds.
The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office has since May conducted six waves of searches and sought court orders to detain Wang, 65, two accountants surnamed Lin (林) and Lee (李), aged 67 and 53 respectively, and two others surnamed Cheng (鄭) and Hsu (許).
Other defendants were released on bail ranging from NT$2 million to NT$10 million, the office said.
Hsu, Lee and another suspect surnamed Wei (魏) between them turned over NT$69.07 million in illicit proceeds, it said.
Prosecutors conducted 69 questioning sessions involving people in connection with the case and analyzed digital forensic data from mobile phones, cross-checked tax records, as well as examined explanatory documents, financial transaction records and communication records, the office said.
Wang, Lin and Lee, as well as another accountant, surnamed Shih (施), and 14 others were indicted on charges including accepting bribes or other improper benefits in violation of official duties, profiting from matters under their supervision, bribing public officials in violation of their duties and tax evasion, it said.
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