Scandal and the spectre of game fixing have once again hit the CPBL, Taiwan’s professional baseball league, resulting in diminishing attendance and the sacking of multiple Chinatrust Whales players.

Tainan city council member Wu Chen-Bao and 17 others were questioned by prosecutors regarding allegations that Wu colluded with Whales players to fix games. Wu is alleged to have set up fictitious accounts at gambling outlets around Taiwan, plus online betting. Profits from one outlet alone are reported to have generated a US $42.32 million dollar turnover.

Former DH and team captain Tseng Han-Chou received interrogation on fraud charges, and several other Whales players were taken in for questioning as witnesses. Tseng is now in custody of team management.

Councilman Wu, a 57-year old prominent politician and member of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan’s opposition party, is no stranger to brushes with the law and was previously indicted (and later cleared) on charges of running a gambling den as well as illegally stealing gravel from a local river for profit.

The game fixing scandal is one of many the CPBL has faced-two major scandals of a similar nature occurred in 1996 and 2005, leading to the demise of one franchise and the near-collapse of the league. Mafia pressures and threats against players were alleged to have played a role in these previous scandals.