TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — New Taipei prosecutors have charged 21 people working at New Taipei City Crematorium for taking over NT$30.5 million in bribes (over US$954,000) in return for preferential treatment.
Prosecutors said on Wednesday (Aug. 23) that charges have been laid against a man surnamed Xi (?) who led a group of 20 employees at the crematorium. Xi and the other employees accepted bribes for services such as speeding up cremations, more carefully removing impurities from remains, or carrying out cremations at specific times, per CNA.
An anti-corruption investigation found that since February 2020, some funeral homes began attaching between NT$500-NT$2,000 in cash to cremation permits for corpses they wanted prioritized, and in some instances a flat rate of NT$2,000 per corpse was paid to the group monthly. After receiving the bribes, Xi and other staff would temporarily stow the cash in different places around the crematorium (such as in a transformer box, in the communal kitchen) and would collect it at the end of the day, transferring it to a safe.
New Taipei Prosecutors worked with the government anti-corruption agency and New Taipei police to search 69 residences and question 59 people. Xi and the other 20 defendants all reportedly confessed to the crime during the investigation, and handed over more than NT$20 million of the proceeds from the crime.
When the case was uncovered in January (before charges were laid) it was reported that those involved were also stealing gold teeth from corpses. Prosecutors did not confirm this, but said the matter was under investigation.
New Taipei’s funeral office said that, including Xi, four of the employees involved have either resigned or retired, and the remaining 17 have been removed from their jobs at the crematorium. Nine of those 17 have been fired due to the prosecution, and the status of the other eight, who were contractors, will be dealt with according to Taiwan’s labor law.
