Taiwanese authorities said they were investigating allegations that supporters of Foxconn founder Terry Gou offered toilet paper in exchange for signatures needed for his presidential bid.
Gou, who stepped down from running Foxconn four years ago, announced in August his intention to run in Taiwan’s presidential election in January. The 73-year-old businessman needs to collect 290,000 signatures by Thursday to run as an independent candidate.
Prosecutors in the western county of Yunlin said they questioned 13 people and raided several locations on Wednesday over suspicions of bribery in Gou’s signature campaign.
Four suspects offered a carton of toilet paper worth about $28 to farmers’ association officials in exchange for each signature, according to prosecutors, the Telegraph reported.
Under Taiwan’s election laws, bribing people to sign or not to sign for a potential candidate is punishable by a maximum of seven years in prison in addition to a fine of up to NT$10 million.
