The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a seven-year jail sentence for corruption for Hualien County Councilor Chen Ying-mei (陳英妹) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in the final verdict in the case, which began in 2010.
Chen, 71, was also deprived of her civil rights for five years, and prohibited from running for office.
Chen, from the Amis Lacihakan Community in Rueisui Township (瑞穗), has been a councilor since 2005.
The case involved civic projects in 2006 and 2007 — public tenders for government buildings and an Aboriginal cultural hall in Jian Township (吉安), and a procurement program for a school in Guangfu Township (光復), with a total budget of NT$8 million (US$281,027 at the current exchange rate).
Chen was indicted in 2010 on charges of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), including bid-rigging, colluding with contractors and taking bribes.
She was accused of colluding with local officials, and demanding NT$1.3 million in kickbacks from a contractor surnamed Lin (林) for the Jian Township projects, and NT$530,000 for the Guangfu Township school procurement.
The Hualien District Court in 2012 found Chen guilty and sentenced her to 12 years in prison.
A second ruling by the High Court in 2014 upheld the 12-year sentence.
Chen appealed the second ruling and in 2019, the High Court found her guilty of one count of taking a bribe — in the Guangfu school project — and reduced the sentence to seven years.
Meanwhile, two former mayors of Pingtung County’s Linluo Township (麟洛) — Lee Hsin-huang (李新煌) and Tsai Chih-ho (蔡志和) — were yesterday sentenced to seven and eight years respectively on corruption charges in another final ruling.
Lee, of the Democratic Progressive Party, served as mayor from 2006 to 2014, and Tsai, who had been Lee’s chief secretary, served as mayor from 2014 to 2017.
They were convicted of demanding kickbacks of 5 to 15 percent of public infrastructure projects, receiving a total of NT$7.1 million.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the
EARTHQUAKE: Taipei and New Taipei City accused a construction company of ignoring the Circular MRT’s original design, causing sections to shift by up to 92cm The Taipei and New Taipei City governments yesterday said they would seek NT$1.93 billion (US$58.6 million) in compensation from the company responsible for building the Circular MRT Line, following damage sustained during an earthquake in April last year that had shuttered a section for months. BES Engineering Corp, a listed company under Core Pacific Group, was accused of ignoring the original design when constructing the MRT line, resulting in negative shear strength resistance and causing sections of the rail line between Jhonghe (中和) and Banciao (板橋) districts to shift by up to 92cm during the April 3 earthquake. The pot bearings on
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
RSS