Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) and seven former legislators across party lines were yesterday each sentenced to more than seven years in prison by the Taiwan High Court for accepting bribes from the Taiwan Dental Association in return for their endorsement of the Oral Healthcare Act (口腔健康法).
The Taipei District Court found the eight not guilty in October last year, but in yesterday’s ruling, Tsai was sentenced to eight years in prison and his civil rights were suspended for five years. Tsai’s elder brother, Tsai Chao-cheng (蔡朝正), an executive at a pharmaceutical company, was also sentenced to eight years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for five years.
Former DPP legislators Jao Yung-ching (趙永清) and Lee Ming-hsien (李明憲), former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chang Tsa-mei (張蔡美) and former People First Party (PFP) legislator Chiu Chuang-liang (邱創良) were all sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison and their civil rights were suspended for three years.
Photo: Taipei Times
Former PFP legislator Yang Fu-mei (楊富美) and former DPP legislator Lee Chen-nan (李鎮楠) were sentenced to seven years and two months in prison, and their civil rights were suspended for three years.
Former DPP legislator Liao Pen-yen (廖本煙) was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison, and his civil rights were suspended for three years.
The ruling said Tsai Huang-liang accepted NT$3.5 million (US$110,000) from the dental association through his brother.
Jao, Chang, Chiu and Lee Ming-hsien received NT$1 million each, while Yang, Liao and Lee Chen-nan pocketed NT$500,000 each, the rulling said.
All the defendants can appeal.
The court said the dental association proposed an oral healthcare act in 2002 that would allow dentists to receive subsidies from the Bureau of National Health Insurance.
Tsai Huang-liang in April 2002 submitted a draft bill to the legislature, but a number of legislators from across party lines opposed it.
The association then paid off key legislators in return for their endorsement of the draft, the ruling said.
The act was approved in April 2003.
The ruling said the money was given in exchange for endorsement of the bill, so it could not be seen as “sponsored funds” or “political donations.”
Tsai Huang-liang, Chao and Liao are DPP candidates in January’s legislative elections, the first two running for at-large positions.
In a statement yesterday evening, DPP Ethics Committee chairman Chang Tien-chin (張天欽) said the ruling would not affect their nominations.
The case was discussed and dismissed by the committee on Feb. 12, 2009, because it had gone beyond the five-year statute of limitations mandated by the DPP’s ethics code, Chang said.
The alleged bribery took place in 2002, but charges were only filed in 2008.
At an earlier press conference, DPP spokesman Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said the three candidates’ nominations would remain valid unless they were convicted in the final ruling.
The Taiwan High Court ruling is “unacceptable” and may have been politically motivated, Tsai Huang-liang told a separate press conference, vowing he would appeal.
The indictment was “selective and controversial,” he said, because more than 50 legislators were investigated by the prosecutors at the time.
Liao also told a press conference that he found the ruling unacceptable because no new evidence had been submitted after the first trial, adding that the money he received was a donation by the Taiwan Dental Association.
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
BAIL APPEALS: The former vice premier was ordered to be held incommunicado despite twice being granted bail and paying a total of NT$12 million in bond The Taoyuan District Court yesterday ordered the detention of former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is being investigated for alleged corruption while serving as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022, and that he be held incommunicado. The court made the ruling during a bail hearing after prosecutors appealed its bail ruling twice. Cheng on Saturday was released after posting bail of NT$5 million (US$153,818). However, after prosecutors lodged an appeal, the High Court on Monday revoked the original ruling and ordered the Taoyuan District Court to hold another bail hearing. On Tuesday, the district court granted bail to Cheng a second
PEACE AND SECURITY: China’s military ambitions present ‘the greatest strategic challenge to Japan and the world, Japan’s annual defense white paper said yesterday Japan yesterday warned that China risked escalating tensions with Taiwan with an increase in military exercises that appeared aimed in part at readying Beijing’s forces for a possible invasion. Japan’s annual assessment of security threats, including those posed by China, North Korea and Russia, comes as Taiwan closely monitors Chinese People’s Liberation Army air and sea exercises, including one with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. The drills are the latest in a series including maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait last year that a senior US general said would be key to any invasion. “Because of that increase in military activity,
SECURITY CONCERNS: An FBI agent said it was surprising that the shooter, whose motive remains unknown, was able to open fire before the Secret Service killed him On the heels of an apparent attempt to kill him, former US president Donald Trump yesterday called for unity and resilience as shocked leaders across the political divide recoiled from the shooting that left him injured, but “fine,” and the shooter and a rally-goer dead. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting His aides said he was in “great spirits” and doing well. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place,” he