A local politician in Yunlin County has been indicted for allegedly running a protection racket and dodging tens of millions in taxes, a case prosecutors are framing as an attack on organized economic crime.

• Han Ching-shan, chairman of the Mailiao township representative council, is accused of squeezing protection money out of local waste-soil operators for years.
• Prosecutors say his company issued 137 fake invoices worth over NT$150 million between 2018 and 2024 to hide income and cut its tax bill.
• The alleged scheme evaded more than NT$33 million in business and corporate income tax, with his wife as finance chief and another woman handling the books.
• A separate strand involves faking steady monthly sales to swindle a car loan, plus underreported revenue at a hostess bar he invested in.
• Han denies everything, says the charges are false and that he will prove his innocence in court.

Outlook: The case now moves to trial, and prosecutors say they will keep pushing to dismantle economic crime networks in the area.