Kinmen Legislator Hung Cheng-fa Indicted for Corruption in Engineering Procurement Cases

(Central News Agency, reporter Wu Wen-hsiung, Kinmen, July 9) Hung Cheng-fa, a Kinmen County legislator from the Kuomintang party, has been indicted for offenses including corruption in public engineering procurement cases during his tenure as the head of Lieyu Township. Prosecutors announced today that Hung Cheng-fa has confessed to the charges, and the investigation has concluded with his indictment for violations of the Government Procurement Act and the Anti-Corruption Act.

The Kinmen District Prosecutors Office stated in a press release today that Hung Cheng-fa served as the head of Lieyu Township from December 25, 2014, to December 25, 2018. During this period, he was responsible for overseeing township affairs, reviewing the budget compilation of the Lieyu Township Office, approving various procurement cases, and had the authority to review and finalize procurement cases handled by the township office.

Prosecutors pointed out that Hung Cheng-fa, utilizing his authority as township head, approved and finalized 64 public engineering procurement cases for Lieyu Township after public tenders. He then instructed his children to bid under the name of their company. He failed to recuse himself as required by the Public Officials Act of Impartiality in Transactions, nor did he truthfully fill out the relevant disclosure of relationship documents. This led the procurement tender opening officials of the Lieyu Township Office to award these procurement cases to the company operated by Hung Cheng-fa's children without their knowledge.

Prosecutors stated that while serving as a county legislator in 2024, Hung Cheng-fa submitted two local construction proposals. The Kinmen County Government allocated budget for these proposals and conducted public tenders for the two public engineering procurement cases. Hung Cheng-fa then instructed his children to bid under the name of their company. He failed to recuse himself as required by the current Impartiality Act and did not proactively and truthfully fill out the relevant disclosure of relationship documents in the tender documents.

Furthermore, prosecutors indicated that Hung Cheng-fa is suspected of bid rigging through fraudulent means in four cases, violating the Government Procurement Act. The total illicit gains for Hung Cheng-fa and his children amounted to NT$29,067,564. Hung Cheng-fa has voluntarily surrendered NT$15 million of the illicit gains. The court is requested to legally confiscate the surrendered and remaining illicit gains.

Regarding specific sentencing requests, prosecutors stated that no evidence was found of Hung Cheng-fa using his position to engage in bid rigging, leak tender prices, or other acts that obstruct bidding. There is also no active evidence proving that he intentionally excluded legitimate competitors or maliciously inflated engineering costs for exorbitant profits.

Prosecutors pointed out that considering Lieyu Township in Kinmen County is an outlying island within an outlying island, with extremely remote geographical location, making transportation and acquisition of construction materials more difficult than on the main island, and thus increasing the cost of public engineering projects, making them prone to bid failures. Hung Cheng-fa's company has been involved in local public engineering construction for a long time, objectively enabling the continuous promotion of some local construction projects and providing certain practical assistance to local public infrastructure.

Prosecutors stated that while this objective situation does not justify his illegal actions and cannot exempt him from criminal responsibility, it can be considered as a factor for the court to reference during sentencing. Taking into account the means and circumstances of the crime, the benefits obtained, his attitude after the offense, and the absence of other major corruption offenses, the court is requested to impose an appropriate sentence. (Editor: Chang Ya-ching) 1150709

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