Wednesday, August 6, 2008

The Hits Keep Coming: DPP Legislative Caucus Leader Under Investigation


Thursday's Taipei Times carried an article regarding an investigation against senior Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘). The immediate issue relates to a possible MJIB heads-up given to Ker, who is the DPP's legislative caucus leader, about a raid on his office. The article notes:

Officials from the special investigation panel of the Supreme Prosecutors Office probed a case in which Ker was suspected of receiving kickbacks to lobby on behalf of RSEA Engineering Corp (榮民工程公司) after a marble mine factory it operated in Hualien was accused of violating environmental regulations.

RSEA, a state-owned engineering firm under the Veteran's Affairs Commission, is one of Taiwan's most prominent construction firms. Its General Manager, Air Force LTG (ret) Lee Tien-yi (李天翼), is said to be the brother of former Minister of Defense Lee Tien-yu (see this link for some background on the relationship). Ker denies taking money from RSEA Engineering, and the MJIB refused to comment. If something comes out of the investigation, it's likely that any questionable activity occured well before Lee took over the RSEA position. RSEA has done alot of work in the Middle East, as well as sensitive military construction projects in Taiwan.

The Taiwan press had previously reported that Ker had been questioned over an alleged embezzlement case dating back to 1997 when Ker was general manager of Lungyuan International Co (隆元國際).

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