In a surprise turn of events at an extra hearing held by the Taiwan High Court yesterday, Farglory Land Development Co (遠雄建設) chairman Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄) pleaded guilty to all charges in the alleged bribery cases he was implicated in.
Chao stands accused of bribing city government officials to expedite processes in public housing projects in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口) and Taoyuan’s Bade District (八德) last year.
The Taipei District Court had ruled on the case in March, sentencing former Taoyuan County deputy commissioner Yeh Shih-wen (葉世文) to 19 years in prison; Chao to four years and six months in prison; former Farglory deputy chairman Wei Chun-hsiung (魏春雄) to four years in prison; and the handler, Tsai Jen-hui (蔡仁惠), to six months in prison.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Chao had previously denied bribing government officials, but had also let slip that he had paid the money due to pressure from Yeh, who was a former director of the Construction and Planning Agency.
The prosecution had filed an appeal to the ruling, protesting against the light sentences Chao and Wei received for their involvement in the Bade case and the not guilty ruling in the first trial over the Hsinchu City veteran’s village repurposing project. Chao and the other defendants had also filed an appeal.
The appeals went to the Taiwan High Court, with the rulings originally scheduled to be announced on Friday next week.
However, at the extra hearing held by the Taiwan High Court, Chao pleaded guilty to the bribery charges, not only for the Bade and the Linkou A7 MRT public housing projects, but also to the Hsinchu City repurposing project for veterans’ housing, which he was found not guilty of in the first trial.
Legal experts said it was “reasonable” for Chao to plead guilty in the hope that the court would hand down a shorter prison term.
Yeh has also filed an appeal for an extra hearing and yesterday said that he is willing to turn over the NT$16 million (US$484,628) in bribe money that he received in the hope the court issues him with a lighter sentence.
The court said it would announce the second trial ruling on Monday.
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