The Taiwan High Court yesterday ruled against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世), handing him an additional five-month jail term in a malicious accusation lawsuit related to a 2012 corruption case.
Lin has been serving a two-year sentence after the Supreme Court in August last year upheld a district court conviction for receiving a NT$63 million (US$2.04 million at the current exchange rate) bribe. He was also ordered to pay a NT$15.8 million fine.
It has been a fall from grace for the 50-year-old, who was once seen as a rising star in the KMT. He was elected legislator four times.
Lin was an important member of then-KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) inner circle. In 2012, during Ma’s second term as president, Lin was named Executive Yuan secretary-general.
A judicial probe was initiated after Chinese-language Next Magazine in 2012 reported that Lin had allegedly asked for an NT$83 million bribe, of which he reportedly received NT$63 million, to help Kaohsiung-based Ti Yung Co secure a slag treatment contract from a subsidiary of China Steel Corp.
Lin at the time denied receiving the bribe and sued Next Magazine for libel, saying that the media outlet deliberately produced a false report about him.
However, evidence from the investigation, including audio recordings, showed that Lin had solicited and received the bribe.
In the first and second rulings, judges found him guilty for “holding properties of unknown origin” and related charges.
“Lin has been found guilty of malicious accusation, as despite knowing that he had received a bribe, he still went ahead and filed a libel suit against the media outlet,” the High Court said in a statement yesterday.
“Lin did not reflect on his wrongdoing and instead abused his government position and authority to convene a news conference at the Executive Yuan, at which he covered up facts related to the case,” it said.
“He attempted to use the justice system to obfuscate the truth from the public. Although he withdrew the case within a few days, he had already squandered judicial resources,” it added.
While they found Lin guilty of malicious accusation, the judges said that as he had admitted to wrongdoing in the trial, leniency was permitted in giving him a lighter five-month term instead of the three years and six months requested by prosecutors.
It was the second ruling in the case and can still be appealed.
Proceedings are still pending against Lin for charges under the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) of money laundering and receiving bribes in breach of official duties, for which the High Court had ordered a retrial last year.
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