Taipei District Court yesterday sentenced Kao Li-chuan (高儷娟), the mother of Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Hsueh-fung (王雪峰), to two years and six months in prison for fraud.
Kao is the former wife of Taipei City Councilor Wang Kun-ho. In addition to her husband and her daughter, Kao's son, Wang Po-yu (王博昱) is also a former Taipei City councilor.
According to the verdict, Kao was convicted after it was established she approached a former Taipei City Government employee identified only as Lin and propositioned him. Kao told Lin she had powerful connections through her husband, who knew many judges and prosecutors. Kao said she could help Lin not be implicated in case of corruption which took place in 1995. Lin eventually paid her NT$1.1 million to "use her connections," but Kao instead hired defense counsel and did not attempt to bribe the judge.
Lin was still found guilty of corruption by the Supreme Court and realized that Kao had lied to him, so he decided to file a suit against Kao.
Kao is allowed to file an appeal regarding this case within ten days after she receives the official verdict from the Taipei District Court, which usually takes 10 to 15 days.
"Kao lied to Lin and accepted his bribe money, but she did not bribe anybody as promised. That is why she was only sentenced to 30 months in jail," said Huang Jiunn-ming (黃俊明), spokesman for the Taipei District Court.
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday said that private-sector refiners are willing to stop buying Russian naphtha should the EU ask them to, after a group of non-governmental organizations, including the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), criticized the nation’s continued business with the country. While Taiwan joined the US and its Western allies in putting broad sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, it did not explicitly ban imports of naphtha, a major hard-currency earner for Russia. While state-owned firms stopped importing Russian oil in 2023, there is no restriction on private companies to
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
RSS