Yilan County Councilor Yang Shunmu handed over the baton, and the involved deputy Yang Yilin bought votes in cash and was ordered to be detained

Yilan County Councilor Yang Shunmu (pictured) was about to hand over the baton after serving as a member for the fourth term, but was detained for allegedly buying votes in cash for his son. (File photo)

Four-term Yilan County Councilor Yang Shunmu decided to hand over the reins this year to his son Yang Yilin, who ran for election as a county councilor in the Yilan City constituency without party membership. However, prosecutors found out that he was suspected of buying votes for his son in cash for 1,000 yuan per vote. After the prosecutor skipped an overnight interrogation and requested for detention, the judge determined that the suspicion was serious and ruled that he should be detained without permission.

It is reported that the key to the breakthrough of the whole case was that after the prosecutors received the report, they arrested two people named Lin Zhuangjiao of Yang Shunmu last Thursday. The task force saw that the time was right yesterday and launched a large-scale search of Yang Shunmu's home and other places. Together with the investigation progress on the 5th, a total of 11 places were searched and 9 people were summoned and notified to report to the case. After the prosecutor's reexamination, it was confirmed that the ticket purchase certificate clearly stated that the person was detained, and the court ruled that Yang Shunmu and the two peddlers, a total of three persons, were detained.

Regarding the case of the father buying tickets for his son, the follow-up investigation will focus on identifying the source of the bribe. As for Yang Yilin, did he know about his father's bribery? The prosecutor does not rule out summoning his son to give a statement in the near future to clarify the financial structure behind the scenes and the actual extent of his involvement.

Yang Shunmu, who was detained, was born in Taoyuan and settled in Yilan in 1975. He served as a citizen representative and was elected as a county councilor for four terms. He has been deeply involved in the grassroots for a long time. In his early years, he was a member of the Kuomintang and an independent party. Later, he joined the "Zhengshenming Party" in 2022 and was re-elected.

Although Yang Shunmu is a current member of the Zhengshenming Party, his son Yang Yilin has not joined the party and is running as an independent. The party has nominated He Jiaxin to compete. In addition, when the Shoshinname Party held a party celebration dinner in June, it was investigated for bribery related to the election strike, and the party chairman and others were released on bail.