Taiwan's aviation head charged amid false compensation scandal

Twenty-nine people, including Taiwan's top aviation official, were indicted on corruption charges for filing false government compensation claims, according to news reaching from Taipei on Friday.

If convicted, Chang Kuo-cheng, director of the Civil Aeronautics Administration of Taiwan, could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison, prosecutors in Taoyuan County said.

Prosecutors said the accused filed false claims for compensation which is paid to residents around the airport after they installing noise reduction barriers. In some cases the barriers were never installed.

Local officials are also accused of allowing residents near the Taoyuan International Airport to file false claims.

Local officials collected more than 1.4 million Taiwan dollars in commissions, prosecutors said.

Source: Xinhua