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).
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS