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
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College