Taiwan's Lienchiang County government has been hit by a corruption case, bad news for public trust in Matsu's contracting and a warning to officials who lean on staff to protect family business.

• Former county secretary-general Chang Lung-te has been charged with rigging a nearly NT$20 million urban-planning review contract so his wife's brother's firm could take the work.
• The brother-in-law's company was not qualified to bid, so it borrowed another firm's licence and paid a cut of the winning price as a fee.
• Chang approved the contract instead of stepping aside, then took personal control of all paperwork on the project after the contractor complained about oversight.
• When a section chief objected in writing and looped in the ethics office, Chang pushed to have him moved out of the job and told the brother-in-law the staffing change was in hand.
• Prosecutors put the illegal gain at about NT$4.5 million and want it seized; the brother-in-law and several others got deferred prosecution with fines instead of charges.

Outlook: The case now goes to court, where Chang faces profiteering and procurement-law charges over a decade-long run as the county's top civil servant.