Sixteen incumbent and former Taipei County councilors were handed down heavy sentences by the Banciao District Court on Monday for their involvement in a kickback scandal.
The 16, including seven incumbent councilors, two former councilors who are county township leaders and seven former councilors, were found guilty on Monday. Another related case involving a further 12 incumbent and former councilors on the same charge is still pending with the district court.
Several of the councilors were given heavy sentences, with the heaviest nine years in jail and the lightest 20 months.
The defendants are able to appeal to the Taiwan High Court, the district court ruling added.
Taipei County Government said Rueifang Township (
The district court ruling said that the Taipei County Government allowed councilors to apply for subsidies to help local groups, organizations and schools.
But it added that councilor Kao Min-hui (高敏慧) established a front company in 2000 and invited her colleagues to apply for the allowances using proposals tendered by the company. When the local government granted the proposals and offered the funds to the front company, the councilors received around 30 percent of the money in kickbacks through Kao, the ruling said.
Kao received the heaviest sentence for her part in the scam, getting nine years in jail.
The ruling said that the 16 councilors had received more than NT$20 million (US$610,000) via the operation between 2000 and 2003.
The ruling said local councilors have a responsibility to improve the lives of their constituents, but instead they were greedy and corrupt, so the court decided to give them all heavy sentences.
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