Former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Chen Che-nan (陳哲男) was sentenced yesterday to 12 years in prison for accepting bribes.
"As one of the government's top officials, Chen's behavior has seriously damaged the government's image. His behavior was unscrupulous," the Taipei District Court ruling said.
The ruling said Chen received NT$6 million (US$184,400) from developer Liang Po-hsun (梁柏薰) to bribe the judges in Liang's embezzlement trial.
After Liang was given his final sentence of 14 months in jail in January 2004, Chen returned NT$3 million to him, but kept the rest.
To cultivate a close connection with the Presidential Office official, the ruling said Liang gave Chen NT$1 million in cash when they first met in 2002.
Later that year, he gave Chen NT$1.1 million when he attended the funeral of Chen's mother. Then in late 2002, he gave Chen NT$6 million to use for bribes.
Liang fled to China in 2004 after being found guilty of embezzling funds from the Overseas Chinese Bank. He returned to Taiwan on April 2 this year to accuse Chen of embezzling his money. Liang was arrested upon his arrival at the then CKS International Airport.
Liang used a sauna owner named Yang Chen-feng (
Chen was found not guilty of insider trading, the ruling said, for making a profit of almost NT$1.6 million in Chihkan Technology Co shares after he met the company's chairman.
Chen will be able to appeal his conviction and sentence to the Taiwan High Court.
He faces even more legal woes because he has also been indicted for his alleged involvement in the corruption scandal surrounding the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp.
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