Media Exposes Chupei Mayor Cheng Chao-fang's Family in Land Rezonings Scandal, Accused of Pocketing NT$260 Million and Reselling Land

On March 8, 2026, multiple media outlets in the Republic of China reported a weekly magazine exposé alleging that Chupei Mayor Cheng Chao-fang (Democratic Progressive Party) and his father, former Hsinchu County Magistrate Cheng Yung-chin, were embroiled in a major financial and integrity dispute concerning the 'Zhishan Manor' land development project in Zhudong. The development partner, Garden Innovation, accused the Chengs of accepting over NT$260 million in land payment. They presented transaction records showing that NT$15 million was wired directly into Cheng Chao-fang's personal cooperative bank account in 2013, with tens of millions more flowing into accounts associated with him. Garden Innovation claimed that once the land rezoning and integration were completed, the Cheng family unilaterally reneged on the contract under the pretext of 'never receiving the payment' and privately sold the land to a third-party developer for a profit of over NT$500 million. Cheng Chao-fang clarified that the case was a private nominee registration dispute that occurred before his political career and denied receiving NT$260 million. However, the scandal has heavily damaged his clean image and raised public scrutiny over his family's long-standing monopoly on local land rezoning interests.