A Taipei district court yesterday handed down a 27-month prison sentence to Liu Cheng-chih (劉政池), the brother of a former county commissioner, for violating the Soil and Water Conservation Act (水土保持法) in an illegal appropriation of public land case involving property on Yangmingshan (陽明山).
Yesterday’s verdict by the Shilin District Court in Taipei was widely viewed as a light sentence, because Liu was found not guilty on the more serious illegal occupation of state-owned land charge, which carries a harsher punishment.
Public outcry followed the announcement of the sentence, as the public officials implicated in the case — mostly from the Yangmingshan National Park Administration (YNPA) — received harsher sentences, with former YNPA director Tsai Pai-lu (蔡佰祿) receiving a six-year jail term for his involvement.
Photo: CNA
Liu was accused of illegally appropriating about 1,465 ping (4,843m2) of public land to build an opulent estate, known as “77 Mansion” (七七行館), inside Yangmingshan National Park, through bribes for YNPA officials to expedite the process and obtaining approval permits through the use of forged documents.
During construction of the property, Liu also carried out unauthorized activities, which included cutting down trees and excavating land to put in metal cargo containers for an expanded underground housing complex. These activities are normally not allowed and highly regulated inside Yangmingshan National Park, under the strict scrutiny of the YNPA.
During the investigation, it was ascertained that construction permits were obtained for the original mansion and the planned expansions only after Liu’s brother, former Miaoli County commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻), bribed Tsai and other officials with lavish banquets and other inducements.
In yesterday’s ruling, former YNPA section chief Lee Chao-sheng (李朝盛) and his subordinate Hsieh Wen-hua (謝文華), who handled the permit applications, were both given 31-month sentences, while construction contractor Yeh Hsien-chung (葉憲忠) received a seven-month jail term.
Prosecutors said the Liu family illegally occupied public land in a national park for nearly two decades thanks to collusion with YNPA officials, who accepted various bribes and inducements.
According to the indictment, Liu Cheng-chih originally bought the land adjacent to Yangmingshan’s Sulfur Valley (硫磺谷) in 1998, and rented public land from the YNPA starting in 1999 for NT$22,860 per month, before beginning construction in 2004.
Due to Liu Cheng-chih’s construction and improvements over the past decade, “77 Mansion” reportedly increased in value by a factor of more than 250 to reach NT$770 million (US$24.53 million) from an original value of about NT$3 million.
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