Taiwan Combats Evolving Bribery Methods
The Taiwan Ministry of Justice has issued a warning, highlighting the dynamic nature of bribery laws and its growing association with digital payment methods. The traditional notion of bribery, limited to cash transactions, is no longer sufficient to tackle the ever-evolving tactics employed by unscrupulous actors. According to statistics released by the Ministry of Justice, an alarming total of over 5.23 million yuan has been implicated in bribery cases over the past 12 years, up to the end of May this year. Additionally, it is estimated that at least 5.4 billion yuan of nine-in-one election bonuses were disbursed last year, subject to ongoing review and distribution.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice stated that Bitcoin and Ethereum may be used as election bribery tools, and the prosecution and police are already actively preventing these methods from appearing in the 2024 election.
https://t.co/ezf5iLM1RO— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) July 5, 2023
Massive Election Bribery Cases
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate reported prosecuting a staggering 6,1335 cases of election bribery related to the previous year’s nine-in-one election. Among the accused were 980 individuals, including prominent figures such as Xiao Jingtian, a former member of the Standing Committee of the Kuomintang Central Committee, Chung Dongjin, the magistrate of Miaoli County, Qiu Lili, chairman of the Tainan City Council, and Lin Zhizhan, deputy speaker of the Tainan City Council. Furthermore, 100 cases involving 719 individuals were suspended for further investigation.
The legal authorities have also been busy prosecuting cases of election violence, with 88 shooting incidents resulting in 49 cases and 63 individuals brought to justice. Three cases, involving three people, were deferred for future prosecution. Additionally, 294 cases, implicating 387 individuals, were prosecuted for disinformation related to elections, and 157 cases involving 378 people were prosecuted in connection with the “ghost population” phenomenon.
Crackdown on Voter Bribery
Moreover, legal entities across Taiwan have taken action against voters involved in bribing others during the elections. For instance, Taipei City Councilman Myolie Lin and Miaoli County Mayor Chung Dongjin were implicated in 192 cases, involving 193 individuals, surpassing the number of cases reported during the previous nine-in-one election. Court judgments deemed three of these cases invalid. These actions led to the seizure of nearly 1.5 billion yuan, setting a record for all years in terms of the amounts recovered in bribery cases.
In response to the changing landscape of bribery, the Ministry of Justice acknowledged that emerging third-party payment methods, including Line Pay, Pi wallet, street payment, Europay, game points, and virtual currencies like bitcoin and ether, may become tools for bribery. Prosecutors and police are actively taking measures to curb such practices and prevent their potential misuse in the forthcoming 2024 election. As digital payments continue to gain popularity, staying ahead of potential misuse becomes vital in upholding the integrity of the electoral process.
