The Taipei District Court yesterday sentenced former minister of the interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) to two years in jail and five years probation for corruption.
The judges also ruled that Yu must perform 120 hours of community service.
Yu was indicted last December for his involvement in irregularities related to the construction of the Nangang Exhibition Center.
He was charged with leaking the name of the panel members reviewing the bids for the exhibition center to contractor Kuo Chuan-ching (郭銓慶) at the request of former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍).
Yu admitted to revealing the names of the members of the evaluation board for the project to potential contractors, but said he did not receive any bribes.
Prosecutors had asked for leniency for Yu after determining that Kuo's alleged kickbacks were paid to the former first lady and not to Yu.
Kuo has said he gave US$2.73 million to bribe the then first family in return for winning the tender to build the center between 2002 and 2003.
Wu said she received US$2.2 million from Kuo — not US$2.73 million as stated in the indictment — and that the money was a political donation — not a bribe.
The former first lady also denied mentioning anything to Yu about the names of the evaluation board members.
In the ruling yesterday, the court also handed down stiff sentences to seven members on the evaluation board for bribery: Cheng Tsung-jung (鄭聰榮), eight years in prison; Wang Lung-chang (王隆昌), seven years and eight months; Chiang Cher-ming (江哲銘), seven years and two months; and Chou Chia-peng (周家鵬), Chen Po-ya (陳博雅), Wang Cheng-ying (王振英), and Kuo Yung-chieh (郭永傑), seven years and six months each.
Yesterday's ruling is not final and can be appealed.
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