The prosecutor at Hualien District Prosecutors Office, Yi-Jen Wang, directed Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau to uncover a scheme of bribery. Prosecutor Wang found four members of Shlin Township （秀林鄉）cleaning team, from February to July 2020, allowed illegal dump of industrial waste onto landfill at night in return for cash bribes. Prosecutor charged four civil servants and other three accomplices with bribery and violation of Waste Disposal Act.

This case originated from a letter of confession. The defendants claimed they did allow unlawful waste dump but denied receiving any payment. By thoroughly analyzing phone logs, collecting relevant documents, and conducting on-site investigation twice, Prosecutor Wang verified the volume of wrongful waste dump amounted to 1486.61 cubic meters. In the end, the defendants admitted they permitted illicit garbage dump in exchange for cash payment of New Taiwan Dollar 7,500 per truck, and spontaneously handed over all the unlawful gains up to NTD 450,000.

Illegal waste dump does much damage to our environment, and people always have no tolerance for corruption. Prosecutors will not only bring lawbreakers to justice, but also keep cracking down on corruption and protecting the nature.