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Approaching Chinese lunar new year, Taiwan Kaohsiung District Prosecutors leading MJIB, FDA and Kaohsiung Department of Health uncovered local chain markets selling manipulated expiration date of raw meat and hot-pot ingredients, two defendants were granted bail 2 million and 200,000 NTD.
The Prosecutor's Office recently received information suggesting the sale of expired frozen foods at certain chain markets, then appointed Civil Crime department Chief Prosecutor Zhuang Ling-Ru, and Prosecutor Li Yu-zi leading MJIB to form a special team for investigation immediately. After collecting solid evidences, Prosecutor Li Yu-zi led the Kaohsiung City Investigation Division, along with the Kaohsiung Department of Health and FDA Southern Regional Center, to inspect the main and branch stores of the supermarket in Gushan and Lingya Districts in Kaohsiung on January 29, 2024. The team discovered 184 packages of food which been altered expiration dates and 81 packages food with suspected expiration, and brought back five suspects. After prosecutor interrogation, defendant Mr. Zhong (the owner, born in 1948) and Miss Huang (store manager, born in 1947) were both accused violating the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, aggravated fraud under the Criminal Code, and forging documents. Due to accusing is strongly suspected, they were granted bail of 2 million and 200,000 NTD separately, and the other three employees were released. The defendant Mr. Zhong, operated many chain fresh supermarkets in the wealthy resident area in Kaohsiung, known by selling internationally imported fresh products. Mr. Zhong and Miss Huang were clear aware of the actual shelf life of products, such as roasted sweet potato cake, sake-marinated red sea bream, custard fish cake, various raw meat and hot-pot ingredients, were less than one year. However, for gaining profits illegally, they opened various food items, repackaged them in transparent vacuum bags, instructed employees to use the POS system to print fake labels indicating shelf life more than a year and affixed labels on the package. Then they sold these items to consumers at three stores. They also sold expired products as if they were still within the expiration period. The defendants profited unlawfully through this method. The prosecutor had instructed health officials to administratively seal the problem products found on-site and removing expired goods from the shelves. The prosecutor will investigate further and clarify the number of affected consumers and the details of illicit gains. As approaching Chinese lunar new year, the demand for holiday purchases increasing. Prosecutor's Office will continue to strengthen cooperation with local health authorities on the existing Livelihood Safety Platform to ensure safety of food. The Prosecutor's Office also urges food suppliers should abide the law, or would face legal consequences. The Prosecutor's Office always maintains zero-tolerance policy towards food safety violations to safeguard public security.
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Relentless Pursuit: Kaohsiung District Prosecutor Office Launch Multiple Operations to Investigate Alleged Bribery in Petition Documents - Successful Applications for Detention for 3 Individuals Approved
In the ongoing investigation, Kaohsiung District Prosecutor Office has proactively pursued a case involving bribery in the signing of petitions, a violation of Article 87, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act. From the 3rd to the 5th of this month, our office has conducted multiple waves of searches, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau's Fujian Provincial Investigation Office, Kaohsiung City Investigation Office, and the Kaohsiung City Police Department Lingya precinct. Several defendants and relevant witnesses were summoned for questioning, and following the inquiries, prosecutors sought and were granted detention for three defendants suspected of significantly violating Article 87, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 of the mentioned law. Head Prosecutor Liu Chun-liang and Prosecutor Chen Li-hsiu of our office's Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Unit recently discovered a case involving citizens allegedly violating Article 87, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act, in connection with bribery in the signing of petitions. After questioning relevant defendants and witnesses and examining pertinent evidence, it was revealed that defendant Chen ○-ching instructed defendants Chen ○-hsu, Chen ○-hsin, and others to purchase signed petition documents from unspecified individuals at NT$500 each. Subsequently, the three defendants invited several individuals to assist in purchasing over a thousand signed petition documents for NT$500 each from unspecified individuals between the end of September and October this year. In the past few days, our prosecutors have continued to execute multiple waves of searches, seizing relevant evidence and bringing several defendants and witnesses in for questioning. Following further questioning and comprehensive analysis of the case evidence, prosecutors determined that the defendants Chen ○-hsu, Chen ○-ching, Chen ○-hsin, and others were significantly suspected of violating Article 87, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act. There were reasons and necessities for detention, and the court granted the detention yesterday and today, respectively. The remaining defendants and witnesses were released after questioning. This case relies on the careful analysis of the evidence by our prosecutors, who have actively pursued leads without pause even during the weekend. Subsequent to continuous waves of searches and summoning for questioning, the defendants involved in the purchase of over a thousand signed petition documents were uncovered. The prosecutors will continue to actively investigate, rectify the source, and our office will persist in rigorously investigating any unlawful election cases to safeguard the fairness and integrity of this election and uphold the democratic values of Taiwan.