Former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世) was yesterday found guilty of accepting bribes and sentenced to a prison term of 13 years and six months by the Taiwan High Court, which also fined Lin NT$15.8 million (US$471,754).
Lin’s mother, Shen Juo-lan (沈若蘭), received a five-month term, which can be commuted to pay a fine of NT$150,000, for her role in destroying evidence in the case stemming from 2010, when Lin was a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator.
It was the second ruling on the case and the decision can be appealed.
Yesterday’s ruling was widely viewed as a heavy sentence, as the High Court handed down a longer prison term than in the first ruling by the Taipei District Court in 2013.
In the 2013 ruling, the court sentenced Lin to seven years and four months in prison, along with a fine of NT$15.8 million, while finding the other four defendants in the case — Lin’s wife, Peng Ai-chia (彭愛佳), his mother and two uncles, Shen Huan-yao (沈煥瑤) and Shen Huan-chang (沈煥璋) — not guilty of money laundering.
The High Court yesterday upheld the not guilty verdict for Peng and Lin’s mother’s brothers from the first ruling.
Lawyer Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) spoke on behalf of Lin after the court’s ruling yesterday, saying: “After hearing that he was given a heavier sentence, Lin did not display much emotion, but said he was disappointed by the ruling.
Lo said the ruling was regretful.
The ruling found Lin guilty of breaching official duty by receiving bribes and offenses of a public official accepting assets or property from unidentified sources.
The High Court said that Lin in 2010 held a legislator seat and was also the head of a top-level KMT policymaking body, and thus was in a position to influence the financial operation and management of state-owned China Steel Corp (CSC,中鋼) and its subsidiary, CHC Resources (中聯資源), through which Lin allegedly received NT$63 million in bribes.
The original indictment said that in 2010, Lin helped Kaohsiung-based Ti Yung Co (地勇選礦公司) to secure a slag treatment contract from CHC Resources in exchange for NT$63 million from Ti Yung owner Chen Chi-hsiang (陳啟祥).
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