TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Justice ordered agents in Taichung to investigate fraud by KMT officials collecting signatures for recall petitions on Friday. 

Eight local KMT party officials were taken for questioning, and at least one computer was seized for evidence Friday morning, reported CNA. KMT Taichung City Committee Chair Yen Wen-cheng (顏文正) confirmed the party’s headquarters had been searched and added the party was cooperating with investigators. 

Leaders of several branch offices in the city were taken in for questioning by prosecutors. It is suspected that some campaigners may have misused household registration data in a breach of the Personal Data Protection Act.

In recall campaigns targeting DPP Legislators Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) and Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純), 149 signatures from dead people were allegedly discovered, per UDN. 

At the time of publication, the Taichung Central Prosecutors' office has not released a statement on the case. News of the fraud investigation in Taichung follows similar actions taken by prosecutors in Taipei, New Taipei, Yilan, Keelung, and Kaohsiung.