A former Taipei District Court judge was found innocent yesterday in a case in which he was charged with accepting a bribe.
Taipei prosecutors also decided not to indict TV show host Hu Gua (胡瓜) in the same bribery case.
Taipei District Prosecutors' Office spokesman Lin Jinn-tsun (林錦村) said although Hu and his daughter's boyfriend Lee Chin-liang (李晉良) had contacted a man named Liang Chia-yao (梁家堯) about bribing the judge, Hu and Lee had not paid Liang any money, and therefore the pair had not commited any crime.
Hu was acquitted in January by former Taipei District Court judge Wu Meng-liang (吳孟良) on charges that he had installed hidden cameras in his residence in order to cheat fellow gamblers during high-stakes mahjong games.
But the Taipei District Court later received letters of complaint saying Wu had accepted a bribe of NT$10 million (US$303,030) to acquit Hu on Jan. 11.
"I am happy that the prosecutors cleared my name in this case," Wu told a press conference yesterday.
Liang was indicted yesterday on charges of fraud and prosecutors asked the Taipei District Court to sentence him to 18 months in jail.
Liang, Wu's senior high school classmate, went to Hu and Lee, saying he could function as a go-between for Hu to bribe Wu.
To win their trust, Liang invited Wu to a coffee shop last July, so that Lee could sit next door and watch the judge and Liang's coversation.
Liang then told Hu and Lee he was a close friend of Wu and was able to make a deal.
But because Hu remained suspicious of Liang, he did not pay any money.
Hu's mahjong cheating case is pending in the Taiwan High Court.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS