The son of imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday vowed to appeal a Taiwan High Court ruling on Thursday that found him guilty of helping his parents launder money they received as bribes for arranging bank mergers.
Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), who is presently doing community service in Greater Kaohsiung in lieu of a three-month prison sentence for perjury in a corruption charge that also involved his parents, said the High Court’s rulings were “absolutely unacceptable” to him and his family.
He said the funds channeled to his family during his father’s tenure were “political donations” and described the court’s sentences as politically motivated.
The High Court reversed a ruling by the Taipei District Court last year that acquitted Chen, his wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), Chen Chih-chung and his wife, Huang Jui--ching (黃睿靚), of bribery and money laundering charges related to bank mergers that were part of a “second financial reform” initiative.
It sentenced the former president to 18 years and Wu to 11 years in prison and fined them NT$180 million (US$5.95 million) and NT$102 million respectively for taking bribes from financial conglomerates to help arrange favorable mergers during Chen’s tenure as president between 2000 and 2008.
They were also ordered to return the NT$500 million they allegedly received in bribes to the national coffers. In the same ruling, the court sentenced Chen Chih-chung to one year in jail and fined him NT$4 million and gave Huang a six-month sentence and a NT$2 million fine for their parts in helping hide and move the money.
The former president’s son, who announced his intention to run for a seat in the legislature on Sept. 1, two weeks after he was stripped of his post on Greater Kaohsiung Council because of his perjury conviction, called for voters to make the right choice when voting for a new president on Jan. 14.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
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