《TAIPEI TIMES》 Hsinchu commissioner acquitted of corruption

By Liao Hsueh-ju and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer Hsinchu County Comm...…

Hsinchu County Commissioner Yang Wen-ke is pictured in this photograph. Photo : Huang Mei-chu, Taipei Times

By Liao Hsueh-ju and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Hsinchu County Commissioner Yang Wen-ke （楊文科） was yesterday acquitted in a case of alleged corruption and construction safety violations linked to a Zhubei residential development.

Yang and 11 others were indicted on July 17, 2024, on corruption and collusion charges over allegations that officials accepted bribes to shield the developer of the Wonder World 520 housing project from accountability following a series of sinkholes near the site.

The Hsinchu District Court acquitted Yang in its first-instance ruling.

Former Hsinchu County Public Works Department director Chiang Liang-yuan （江良淵） was sentenced to six years and six months in prison and stripped of civil rights for four years. Another public works official, surnamed Huang （黃）, was sentenced to five years and two months in prison and suspended from civil rights for three years. Fengyi Group （豐邑機構） chairman Liu Shu-chu （劉樹居） and general manager Chiu Chung-che （邱崇?） each received prison terms of three years and six months. All defendants were acquitted of charges under the Building Act （建築法）.

The Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office said it would decide whether to appeal after reviewing the court’s written judgement. Yang did not attend the hearing and was represented by his lawyer.

Prosecutors alleged that cost-cutting during construction caused repeated ground collapses at the site and on nearby roads. The sinkholes damaged vehicles, prompted evacuations and forced road closures.