Yunlin County Council Chairman Detained on Bribery Charges

Yunlin County Council Chairman Huang Kai (黃凱) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on charges of accepting a bribe to help a company obtain a license for a solar power plant.

The New Taipei District Court ordered Huang detained at the request of New Taipei City prosecutors, who presented evidence that Huang had accepted bribes from Kuo Jin Energy Co (國金能源), the New Taipei City District Prosecutor’s Office said.

The judge granted the motion, finding that Huang could potentially tamper with evidence.

On Thursday, New Taipei City Prosecutor Chou Yi-Jun (周懿君) led New Taipei City Bureau of Investigation officers on a raid at 40 locations in western Taiwan, from Tainan to Taipei, and seized NT$2.32 million (US$71,533) in cash and several items, including two SUVs and five branded watches.

It was estimated that the entire case involved bribes worth more than NT$10 million.

On the same day of the raids, Huang and 21 other people, including Yunlin county government employees and green energy industry representatives, including a man surnamed Lien (連), were summoned for questioning.

Prosecutors suspect Huang broke the Anti-Corruption Law (貪污治罪條例) by accepting bribes and engaging in money laundering, crimes that carry a minimum sentence of five years in prison, prompting him to file a motion to isolate himself from the outside world.

According to an investigation by the prosecutor’s office, Huang allegedly accepted bribes from Lien and facilitated the issuance of an operating license for a photovoltaic power plant owned by his company located in Taihsi Township, Yunlin County.

Prosecutors said Lee Chun-hsing (李俊興), head of the Yunlin county government’s Economic Affairs Department, allegedly gave Huang internal analyses of other green power plant applications, and Huang allegedly set up a shell company to accept bribes.

If found guilty, Huang would follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Shen Tsung-lung (沈宗隆) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).

The former Yunlin County Council chairman resigned from his position in October 2023 after pleading guilty to accepting bribes from a wind energy company during an earlier investigation the same year.

Huang took up his position after a by-election.