Three police officers were found guilty of corruption and were sentenced by the Taoyuan District Court yesterday. The officers were charged with accepting bribes during a raid of an underground gambling operation.
The court convicted three criminal investigation unit police officers of Taoyuan City’s Jhongli District (中壢) Police Precinct on corruption and embezzlement charges with multiple-year prison sentences.
Junior police captain of the precinct’s vice squad Wu Hsiao-lung (吳小龍) received a six year, eight month prison term.
Vice squad junior captain Wu Chien-cheng (吳建成) and police sergeant Yen Chih-chun (顏誌君) both received 11 year prison terms.
In court statements, the judge said that the greed of the three officers brought dishonor to the entire Taoyuan City police force.
In February, 2012, police were informed that several known criminals, including a man surnamed Liu (劉), the head of a known gang, were at an illegal gambling den in Jhongli District.
Liu, on the police’s wanted list, was questioned by vice squad units when they raided the gambling den. Fearful of arrest, Liu contacted Wang Chang-fa (王長發), 44, a known gangster, for help.
According to court statements, when Wang arrived, he first talked with his long-term acquaintances Yen and Wu Chien-cheng. Wang proposed a payout in exchange for Liu’s release and the two police officers agreed.
Wang also negotiated with Wu Hsiao-lung, who accepted a bribe of NT$1.5 million (US$47,692).
The three police agreed to divide the money between themselves, their units and other vice squad officers who took part in the raid, the investigation revealed.
Three other gamblers at the den at the time of the raid testified that Wu Hsiao-lung took their money, amounting to NT$330,000, during questioning. Wu promised not to charge them and said he would return their money in a few days, they said.
However, the three punters said the money was not returned.
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