Former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世) was indicted yesterday on corruption-related charges, prosecutors said.
Lin was accused of demanding bribes, pocketing about NT$60 million (US$2 million) in bribes, concealing illegal gains and keeping unaccountable assets, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division (SID) said.
Although prosecutors did not seek a specific sentence for Lin, the crime of accepting bribes alone carries a minimum prison sentence of 10 years.
SID spokesman Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達) said the prosecutors did not specify a sentence for Lin because the Control Yuan has deemed the practice inappropriate.
Lin’s case came to light on June 27 when a local magazine reported that he helped Kaohsiung-based Ti Yung Co (地勇選礦公司) secure a slag treatment contract from a subsidiary of China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) in 2010, when Lin was serving as a legislator of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
In return, Ti Yung owner Chen Chi-hsiang (陳啟祥) gave Lin NT$63 million, the indictment read.
The magazine reported that Lin demanded a further NT$83 million from Chen early this year after he was appointed Cabinet secretary-general. When Chen refused to pay up, Lin allegedly pressured CSC, a listed company in which the government has a controlling stake, to stop supplying slag to Ti Yung.
Lin, 42, was taken into custody by prosecutors for investigation on July 2.
Lin’s mother, Shen Juo-lan (沈若蘭), who allegedly received the bribe along with Lin, was indicted as another principal offender in the case, according to the indictment.
Lin’s wife, Peng Ai-chia (彭愛佳), and two of his maternal uncles — Shen Huan-yao (沈煥瑤) and Shen Huan-chang (沈煥璋) — were charged with money laundering for concealing the bribe on behalf of Lin, the indictment read.
Chen Chi-hsiang, who gave testimony against Lin as a witness for the prosecutors, was under investigation in a separate case by the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office.
Executive Yuan spokesperson Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said the Cabinet had no further comment other than that it respected the investigation conducted by the judiciary and hoped it would adhere to the principles of justice and fairness.
KMT Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟), convener of the legislative Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, said there was still room for argument as to whether Lin is guilty and which laws would be applied to the case when it is tried in court.
Lin and his attorney could argue that Lin was not in a position to decide whom subsidiary companies of state-owned enterprises sign contracts with because Lin — either as a lawmaker or KMT policy committee chief then — did not have that kind of power, Lu said.
Prosecutors applied articles under the Anti-Corruption Act (貪汙治罪條例) to indict Lin, but it is debatable whether the act was applicable to Lin’s case, Lu said, adding: “Lin did have a say in contract matters, but he did not have the final say.”
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said “it was not a surprise that Lin was indicted, but the results the SID announced were a lot different from what most people had expected. Does the indictment indeed reflect the entire picture of the case?”
DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said that while he would comment further after reading the indictment, it appeared the SID had already “drawn a red line” before making the indictment.
Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) said it was strange that Lin’s father, Lin Hsien-pao (林仙保), who was present at the meeting between Lin and Chen Chi-hsiang, had never been subpoenaed by the investigators and the SID had not offered an explanation of the omission.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique