Three senior Taiwan High Court judges and a former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) county commissioner were indicted on corruption charges yesterday, in what have been called the worst graft scandals to involve the nation’s top judiciary in years.
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Panel indicted a total of 13 individuals in two separate cases involving the three High Court judges, including a Banciao (板橋) prosecutor, a retired judge and two lawyers.
Prosecutors said they are seeking a jail term of 24 years and a fine of NT$1.5 million (US$50,000) for High Court Judge Tsai Kuang-chih (蔡光治), who is accused of taking bribes during a corruption case involving former KMT Miaoli County commissioner Ho Chi-hui (何智輝), who was also indicted yesterday.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
They asked for 18 years and a NT$1.5 million fine for High Court Judge Chen Jung-ho (陳榮和) and 11 years and a NT$2 million fine for High Court Judge Lee Chun-ti (李春地), both of whom were charged with graft.
“What they did has tainted the judicial authority and led the people to lose faith in the judicial system. We therefore demanded a heavy punishment for them,” the indictment said.
One case stems from Ho’s indictment in 2004 on charges of receiving large kickbacks during the development phase of the Tongluo expansion of the Hsinchu Science Park in Miaoli County. He was convicted in 2006 and sentenced to 19 years in prison, a verdict that he appealed to the Taiwan High Court. Chen, Lee and Tsai heard his appeal and in May of this year, Chen and Lee found Ho not guilty.
Prosecutors claim that in April, Ho and his secretary, Hsieh Yen-jen (謝燕貞), gave Banciao prosecutor Chiu Mao-jung (邱茂榮) a NT$3.5 million bribe, of which NT$2 million was allegedly handed to Lee, while Chiu kept the rest.
Prosecutors alleged that Ho and Hsieh gave Tsai’s girlfriend, Huang Lai Jui-jen (黃賴瑞珍), NT$2 million in cash, of which Tsai and Huang are believed to have kept NT$500,000, with Tsai delivering NT$1.5 million to Chen at his High Court office.
Prosecutors asked for a three-year sentence for Chiu.
Revelations about the case led to Judicial Yuan president Lai In-jaw’s (賴英照) resignation in July to take responsibility for the scandal and prompted President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to renew his promise to build a clean government and to pledge to set up an anti-corruption watchdog agency.
In the second case, prosecutors requested 11 years for former Taiwan High Court judge Fang A-sheng (房阿生), who is suspected of taking bribes from Chang Ping-lung (張炳龍), a former judge at the High Court’s Hualien branch, to help clear Chang in a 2005 corruption trial.
Chang had been charged with taking NT$300,000 from a plaintiff in return for delivering a not guilty verdict. He was found guilty in previous trials before his case was assigned to a fourth retrial. Although a panel of three judges, including Fang, found him not guilty, at a fifth retrial he was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Chang fled to China before he could be jailed and remains there.
Prosecutors yesterday asked for an additional five years for Chang and four years for Chiu.
After the indictments were announced, State Public Prosecutor-General Huang Shyh-ming (黃世銘) said the Special Investigation Division (SID) would intervene and/or cooperate with local prosecutors in investigations of judges accused of bribe-taking or other corruption offenses.
The SID, which usually investigates corruption allegations involving the president and other senior government officials, would also intervene and issue indictments in corruption cases involving three or more High Court judges, or five or more judges or prosecutors at the local court level, Huang said.
Broadening the SID’s portfolio is aimed at streamlining discipline in the judiciary, Huang said in a written statement.
Additional reporting by AFP and CNA
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
RSS