Zhan Mugen, a non-party county councilor in Changhua County and former mayor of Yongjing Township, colluded with Green Energy Cockroach during his term as township mayor, together with the former director secretary of the office surnamed Lin and others, to escort the bidding of optoelectronic manufacturers and collect NT$110 million in illegal benefits from Taipower as a wholesale purchase fee. Zhan Mugen Gen received more than 4.97 million yuan in bribes from manufacturers. The case was heard by the Changhua District Court. Recently, Zhan Mugen was sentenced to a total of 13 years in prison and deprivation of public rights for 8 years in the three cases. The chief secretary Lin Huijun was sentenced to 3 years and 2 months in prison and deprived of public rights for 3 years.
The case is divided into three cases, including the "Yongjing Cleaning Team and Baseball Stadium Case" and the "Yongjing Rooftop Case." Zhan Mugen is suspected of colluding with green energy development companies named Jiang and Li to make profits, instructing the chief secretary Lin, the cleaning team leader surnamed Chen, and the office clerk surnamed Yang to leak the contents of the leasing case to the optoelectronics industry for bidding.
The verdict stated that when Zhan Mugen was the township head from 2014 to 2022, he handled the Yongjing Cleaning Team and Baseball Stadium case. After Jiang Nan and Li Nan learned about it, they lobbied Zhan and were willing to play a "white glove" role to help collect bribes from the winning manufacturer, 2020 In June 2017, Zhan Mugen instructed the chief secretary surnamed Lin and the cleaning team leader surnamed Chen to cooperate with Jiang and Li in handling the bidding process and leaked relevant bidding information to the optoelectronic company, thereby collecting 81.87 million yuan in renewable energy power monopoly purchase fees. Zhan Mugen received a bribe of 3.06 million yuan.
The verdict stated that in July 2021, Zhan Mugen again handled the bidding operations for space solar energy such as the planning of the Yongjing Third Cemetery, the rooftop of the rural kindergarten, and the parking lot of Zheng Chenggong Memorial Park, and instructed the secretary surnamed Lin and the instructor surnamed Yang to cooperate with Jiang and Li in handling the bidding operations to benefit specific manufacturers, thereby collecting illegal profits of 36.23 million yuan from renewable energy power purchase fees, and Zhan Mugen received a bribe of 1.9 million yuan.
The court criticized Zhan Mugen for not being honest and self-responsible as a township head. For personal gain, he made his subordinates collaborate in crimes, leaked matters that restricted competition or unfair competition, and accepted bribes, which harmed the government's reputation and eroded the foundation of the rule of law. He also denied the crime after committing the crime and failed to return the proceeds of crime.
When the prosecutors prosecuted the case, they sought a heavy sentence of 12 years for Zhan Mugen, and the sentence was extended by one year. Zhan Mugen served as the mayor of Yongjing Township for two terms. After leaving office, he was elected as a county councilor for one term and has not sought re-election in the next term.
