Prosecutors in Keelung have charged two city hospital staff and six others with rigging a medical waste contract for an unqualified company, a bad outcome for the accused and a sign of weak oversight in Taiwan's hospital waste handling.

• Two hospital employees in charge of waste disposal helped a company win a contract it was not licensed to handle.
• The company lacked the permit for general hospital trash, yet beat qualified bidders and pocketed illegal gains of over NT$970,000.
• The waste was then illegally stored at a second firm before being trucked to Keelung's incinerator, which had no idea it was taking it.
• To hide the scheme, false paperwork and false reports were filed at the direction of the hospital secretary.
• Charges include corruption, forgery, and breaking waste disposal law; prosecutors also want fines imposed on the three companies involved.

Outlook: The case now moves to court, where the corruption charges carry the heaviest penalties and the companies face fines.