Hsieh Accuses Tainan Mayor Huang of Bribery 謝龍介指控黃偉哲 向靈骨塔業者索賄千萬

James Hsieh, KMT mayoral candidate for Tainan, held a press conference with a columbarium operator accusing Mayor Huang Wei-che of taking bribes but has yet to deliver its promise. Huang said this is a false accusation and will defend his and the city government's reputation.

Mr. Li, Columbarium Operator: “The mayor asked me, if I'm serious about giving him NT$10 million.”

Mr. Li, the columbarium operator, recalled the conversation he had with Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che alone in the restaurant on Oct. 1, 2020. KMT's candidate for Tainan mayor James Hsieh held a press conference with Li on the morning of the 7th, accusing Huang of taking bribery.

James Hsieh, Tainan Mayor Candidate (KMT): “His lawyer surnamed Chen told Mr. Li to supplementary issue a payment notice of NT$7.2 million in consulting fee on Oct. 6. So Li wired NT$2.2 million first and then send a check for NT$5 million afterwards.”

Li approached Huang through a city councilor because his application to make changes at the columbarium was stuck in the review process. Li alleged that after two dinner meetings with the mayor, both sides agreed on a price of NT$10 million to let the application pass. Huang invited a lawyer surnamed Chen to the dinner meeting, who instructed Li to transfer NT$7.2 million to his law firm in three installments. At the end, his application still did not pass. However, the law firm sent a statement rationalizing the payment, including a dinner bill for NT$80,000 and NT$100,000 for the lawyer to visit the columbarium.

Mr. Li, Columbarium Operator: “I was compelled to do so. They all took advantage of the situation to intimidate me. They said if I didn't pay, my business wouldn't survive.”

Li knew that he was legally responsible for paying a bribe, but he was so angry that he decided to expose it. In the face of the accusations, Mayor Huang admitted that he had dinner with Li and clarified that the lawyer was present to discuss legal issues, but he left early and did not know the contents of the lawyer's follow-up discussions with Li.

Huang Wei-che, Tainan Mayor: “A lot of Mr. Li's accusations are self-interpreted or made up. There is a serious gap between his story and what really took place, which we regret and do not agree with.”

Huang denied being aware of anything. However, Hsieh emphasized that this was only the first stage, suggesting that there was a follow-up to this matter and he will continue to expose details. 

靈骨塔業者李先生說：「他（市長）就跟我說，李董你要這樣（1千萬給我）是不是真的。」業者還原2020年10月1日，在餐廳跟黃偉哲獨處時的談話內容。謝龍介今日一早帶著當事人開記者會，指控黃偉哲收錢沒辦事。

謝龍介指出：「陳姓律師叫業者，在10月6日補簽了那一張形式上的，對外形式上的顧問費是720萬，所以他就先匯220萬，加上500萬的支票。」

業者的靈骨塔因為申請變更設置人卡關，透過議員找上黃偉哲。業者指控兩次聚餐後，雙方談妥以1千萬通過變更，他依聚餐時，黃偉哲找來的陳姓律師指示，分3次將720萬匯到陳姓律師的事務所，沒想到最後變更沒過，事務所還寄對帳單合理化錢的用途，其中包含跟黃偉哲聚餐8萬塊、律師看靈骨塔10萬塊。

李先生說：「我迫於無奈，他們這些人都藉勢藉端，用這些來跟我恐嚇，你如果不給我，我若不付就恐嚇我，如果沒付這些錢我會跑路，我會倒。」

業者自知行賄要負法律責任，但實在氣不過，決定出面揭露。而面對謝龍介等人的指控，黃偉哲上午跑市政行程時承認有吃飯，並澄清找律師去是因牽涉到法律問題，但他提前離開，不知道律師後續跟他們的討論。

黃偉哲表示：「中間他（業者）的講話裡面有非常多都是他自己在那邊詮釋或推論的，根本就是與事實有嚴重的落差，我們非常遺憾，也不予認同。」

黃偉哲表示不知情，謝龍介則強調這只是第一階段，暗示這件事情還有後續，將繼續揭露，也讓這場市長選戰提前白熱化。