The Taiwan High Court yesterday reduced the sentence of former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Chen Che-nan (陳哲男) to seven months in prison for his involvement in a bribery scandal while serving in the post in 2002.
Chen’s sentence was cut to seven months, from a nine-year jail term handed out in his last trial.
The High Court cited evidence that Chen accepted NT$6 million (US$197,200) from businessman Liang Po-hsun (梁柏薰) in 2002 and promised in return to use his influence to settle two court cases involving Liang.
In both Chen’s first and second trials, handled respectively by the Taipei District Court and the Taiwan High Court, he was found guilty and given hefty sentences.
However, after Chen won an appeal which led to the third trial, yesterday’s ruling said because Chen’s post at the Presidential Office did not involve conducting judicial investigations, the money Chen took was unrelated to his work and hence Chen committed fraud, and not corruption.
Saying that they found the ruling unacceptable, the prosecutors said yesterday they would appeal the case to the Supreme Court.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
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