The High Court in a second ruling yesterday found three former military officers involved in intelligence gathering and analysis guilty of embezzlement and forgery for inventing fake Chinese assets.
The verdict is not final.
Lieutenant Colonel Su Hsin-ming (蘇薪名), Colonel Chiang Fang-yu (江芳瑜) and Lieutenant Colonel Hsu Chih-hsin (徐之心) were convicted of manufacturing fake intelligence to claim bonuses and operational expenses between 2016 and last year, the court said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Su, a former member of the Ministry of National Defense’s Communication Development Office, was sentenced to six years and four months in prison. He surrendered NT$10.53 million (US$329,392) in illicit gains.
Chiang and Hsu, formerly members of the Military Intelligence Bureau, were handed four years and eight months, and two years in prison respectively. They surrendered NT$5.69 million and NT$100,000 in illegal proceeds.
Their behavior was a betrayal of their duty as military service members and caused significant harm to national security, the High Court said in the verdict.
However, the High Court’s judgement resulted in a reduction in the trio’s sentences.
The Shilin District Court earlier this year handed Su a prison sentence of 15 years and two months, Chiang five years and 11 months, and Hsu two years and eight months. The three appealed the ruling.
The High Court in the second ruling yesterday said that the sentences given to Chiang and Hsu must be reduced, as the latter’s judgement would have been clouded by an older and more lenient version of the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法).
Meanwhile, Chiang’s good professional performance before the crime, and the financial burden of raising two children and caring for her mother, who has cancer, are mitigating circumstances under the then-effective version of the law, the High Court said.
Hsu also showed remorse by giving the bulk of the bonus to Su and severing all contact with the man, it said.
Su was the mastermind of the scheme and its main beneficiary, but since he was cooperative during questioning, it was reduced, it added.
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
RSS