A senior Taiwanese opposition lawmaker is now facing a corruption case that reaches into the island's shipping industry and a state-owned oil company — bad news for the KMT ahead of an already tense political season.

• Kuomintang legislator Chen Hsueh-sheng was released on bail after questioning over corruption allegations and barred from leaving Taiwan.
• Prosecutors say he put relatives on the payroll as legislative aides who did not actually work there.
• Investigators searched 35 sites, including his home, his office, and several shipping companies, and questioned 27 people.
• The bigger charge is bribery: a shipping firm allegedly paid him to lean on state-owned CPC Corp to cancel a fuel transport contract early, letting the company escape its obligations.
• Chen denies taking bribes or pressuring CPC; his brother and several aides were also released on bail.

Outlook: Prosecutors are still tracing the money, so formal charges and more political fallout for the KMT are likely in the coming weeks.