The Control Yuan has reprimanded the Ministry of Justice for allowing two Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politicians to escape punishment after they were found guilty by the courts.
After convening on Wednesday, Control Yuan committee members agreed to serve a “corrective measure” to the ministry for negligence in its handling of cases involving former Tainan County council speaker Wu Chien-pao (吳健保) and former Ruifang (瑞芳) township mayor Liao Hsiu-hsiung (廖秀雄).
The Control Yuan statement said that during the court proceedings, prosecutors should have requested the prosecutor-general to establish personal files and monitoring mechanisms on the two men, since both were under criminal investigation and could have been a flight risk.
As the prosecutors were negligent in their duties, and the ministry was clearly at fault for failing to oversee the prosecutorial agencies, a “corrective measure” has been issued to the ministry, the statement said.
Wu was found guilty for his involvement as a financial backer of a major underground gambling syndicate in southern Taiwan, which specialized in taking bets and rigging the outcome of the nation’s professional baseball league.
Wu was convicted and given a 38-month prison sentence, but used his council speaker position to evade punishment.
In 2011, Wu was found guilty of fraud and bid rigging in a case dating from 2006 where he colluded with business associates to run an illegal sand-and-gravel excavation operation for profits estimated at about NT$100 million (US$3.08 million at current exchange rates).
Wu fled from his residence to avoid arrest and jail time, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Liao was sentenced to 34 months in prison in January after being convicted of embezzling petroleum firm subsidies, and in March was given a nine-year term for receiving kickbacks from a public utility project by Taiwan Power Co.
However, Liao also fled and reportedly escaped to China.
The ministry issued a statement saying that Wu was convicted on fraud and other charges that were not of a serious nature, and the prosecutor in charge at the time had deemed Wu was not a flight risk, as his son was running as a candidate in the local councilor election.
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