TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Hsinchu County Commissioner Yang Wen-ke (楊文科) and 11 other suspects were indicted Wednesday (July 17) for corruption in a case related to a sinkhole last year.

A parked car disappeared into the hole on a Zhubei City street on April 27, 2024. The investigation led to allegations that Yang received bribes from the Fong Yi Group, the company building a project near the sinkhole.

Investigators found NT$690,000 (US$21,000) in cash at the official residence and the county government office of the Kuomintang (KMT) politician, per CNA. Prosecutors are not only asking for long prison sentences, but also confiscating a total of NT$250 million in illegal income.

The other suspects charged in the case included Chiang Liang-yuan (江良淵), the director of the county’s Public Works Department at the time. The officials reportedly agreed to allow Fong Yi to resume work on its project just three months after the sinkhole incident.

The company took shortcuts which saved it NT$100 million but which affected the safety of nearby residents, according to prosecutors. Fong Yi also allegedly supplied forged documents to government inspectors to persuade them that there were no safety risks.

Yang knew there had been four similar incidents at the site before the April 27 sinkhole, but while he publicly called for a thorough investigation, his contacts with the company through Chiang led to a resumption of work. In addition to cash, he allegedly also accepted the offer of a campaign office from the construction group.