A local politician in Yunlin County, Taiwan, has been indicted for running fake business deals to dodge taxes — bad news for him and for the contractors who helped him.

• Han Ching-shan, head of the Mailiao township council, is accused of taking protection money from waste-soil operators by force.
• Prosecutors say his company issued 137 fake invoices with eight friendly or affiliated firms over six years, covering more than NT$150 million in deals that never happened.
• The scheme allegedly dodged over NT$33 million in business and corporate income tax, with his wife as finance chief and an accountant pulling the cash back out.
• A nightclub he invested in is also accused of routing income through a third person to hide sales and skip another chunk of tax.
• A separate man allegedly used the fake invoices to make his own business look stable and cheat a lender out of a car loan.

Outlook: Han denies everything and says he will fight the charges in court, so the case now moves to trial.