TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Former KMT Legislator Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) has been indicted for allegedly accepting NT$5 million (US$152,000) in return for pushing a green energy project, reports said Wednesday.

He pressured the Ministry of Economic Affairs Water Resources Agency into restarting a solar energy project for the Mudan Reservoir in Pingtung County, the Liberty Times reported. In doing so he stood to receive NT$10 million from a company hoping to obtain the contract for the project.

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office on Wednesday charged five people, including Sufin and a former aide, for their alleged involvement in the kickbacks. The Mudan project was first launched in 2016, but was abandoned two years later because no bidders showed any interest.

However, when one company learned about the issue, it contacted Sufin through his aide, asking him to use his position as a member of the Legislative Yuan Economics Committee to campaign for a restart of the project, prosecutors said. The business people also demanded that the tender be rewritten to fit their requirements, ensuring their bid would win.

When prosecutors uncovered the scandal, Sufin had already been sentenced by a district court to eight years and six months in prison for another corruption case. He was also charged with accepting money for helping a Chinese company set up a subsidiary in Taiwan.