Three indicted over graft in military speedboat deal
ROC Central News Agency
09/08/2020 05:34 PM
Taipei, Sept. 8 (CNA) Two military officers and the owner of a local shipbuilding company were indicted on corruption charges by Taoyuan prosecutors Tuesday over an Army speedboat procurement deal in 2007.
The officers surnamed Lai (賴) and Tsai (蔡) and the owner of Lung Teh Shipbuilding Company (龍德造船公司) surnamed Huang (黃) were charged with illegally inflating the price of the deal in which they made over NT$100 million (US$3.4 million) in profit, according to the indictment released by Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office.
The Army originally planned to buy 20 speedboats from 2007 to 2010 for NT$776 million, the indictment noted.
Lai and Tsai who then worked at the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and were responsible for the project allegedly collaborated with Huang to ensure his company secured the contract to build the boats.
In order to boost their illicit profits, prosecutors allege that the price of each boat was inflated from NT$19.7 million to NT$28.5 million.
Meanwhile, Lai and Tsai are also accused of changing the details of the contract to make the speedboat much lighter than the original design, resulting in the finished vessels failing to meet combat needs, the indictment said.
Lai ensured the speedboats still passed all required tests.
The Army only later discovered that the finished speedboats did not meet required combat readiness standards and reported the case to the related authorities.
The three have been indicted for allegedly violating Article 4, section 3 of the Anti-Corruption Act, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment plus a fine of NT$100 million.
(By Yeh Chen and Joseph Yeh)
Enditem/AW
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
