Independent Legislator Yen Ching-piao (顏清標) was yesterday sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison by the Taiwan High Court for spending millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money at hostess bars and KTV lounges.
Yen, who was sentenced for misusing public funds during his term as Taichung County Council speaker, also had his civil rights suspended for three years.
Independent Greater Taichung Council Speaker Chang Ching-tang (張清堂), who was Yen’s vice speaker in the previous Taichung County Council, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, and three years’ suspension of his civil rights. Tsai Wen-hsiung (蔡文雄), Yen’s former secretary, received six-and-a-half years.
Yen and Chang said they would appeal to the Supreme Court.
In the ruling, the court said that Yen and Chang had returned NT$20.55 million (US$687,000) in misused public funds to state coffers. As a result, the court handed out reduced sentences.
Yen and Chang had been sentenced to 12 years in prison in a first trial.
The court found Yen, Chang and Tsai guilty of spending council funds between 1998 and 2000 to cover their expenditures at hostess bars and KTV lounges in -Taichung. According to the ruling, the trio used more than NT$20 million of council money and were still in debt to various hostess bars for about NT$10 million.
Yen, chairman of the Chenlan Temple, spent three-and-a-half years in Green Island’s maximum-security prison after a crackdown on organized crime in 1986. His participation in local politics began soon after he was released.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS