Taipei Times
Date: Dec 20, 2018
By: Chung Li-hua and Hua Meng-ching / Staff reporters
Former Hualien county commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) has been accused of
Then-Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi talks to reporters in Keelung on Feb. 9. Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei Times
misappropriating NT$5.46 million (US$177,198) from the county’s tax income to hire reporters to write articles, produce videos or take photographs to trumpet his administration’s achievements.
The Chinese-language Mirror Media magazine yesterday reported that a closed tender to create a “media database to promote county government policies,” which had been initiated before Fu was imprisoned for speculative stock trading in September, was sent to 25 reporters from 14 news outlets and TV news stations.
The closed tender was for 25 projects scheduled for last year and this year each promising payments from NT$140,000 to NT$283,000.
Reporters who were awarded the bid were from the United Daily News, the Keng Sheng Daily News, Formosa TV, Sanlih E-Television, Next TV, CTi TV, China Television Co, TVBS, Taiwan Television, ERA TV, ETTV News, Taiwan Indigenous TV, Hakka TV and an online news site, the magazine said.
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