Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) yesterday handed himself in to prosecutors and was taken to the Taipei Detention Center to begin his prison term of four years and six months.
After agreeing to comply, Gao, 55, was accompanied from his residence in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) to the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in the early afternoon to sign the required documents.
Gao was then taken to the Taipei Detention Center in a police vehicle.
He is on Thursday to be transferred to Yilan Prison in Sansing Township (三星).
The Supreme Court on Dec. 26 denied his appeal and upheld a 2016 Taiwan High Court ruling that found him guilty of corruption. Gao can no longer appeal the case.
A three-term DPP lawmaker, Gao has been stripped of the legislative seat he won in 2016, representing Sanchong.
The Taiwan High Court in November 2016 upheld a district court ruling which found Gao and his office assistant, Yao Liang-tian (姚糧鈿), who later changed his name to Yao Sheng-chih (姚昇志), guilty of corruption.
The Taiwan High Court sentenced Kao to four years and six months in prison and fined him NT$500,000 (US$16,243 at the current exchange rate) for improper use of influence and receiving an illegal political donation of NT$500,000 in contravention of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), while Yao was sentenced to 16 months in prison.
In 2006, real-estate agents surnamed Lo (羅) and Chen (陳) approached Yao expressing their interest in renting a plot belonging to the Ministry of Finance’s National Property Administration in Taichung’s East District (東).
The real-estate agents contacted Yao after encountering problems when negotiating with government officials.
After reaching an agreement to rent the land for daytime market use, the company paid a NT$2 million “commission” to Yao.
It was reported that Yao used NT$1 million to pay off personal debts, then put NT$500,000 into his bank account and gave NT$500,000 to Kao as a “political donation” for his campaign fund.
Gao denied the corruption and improper influence charges.
Gao and his lawyer said that Yao conducted his own illegal dealings, then turned against his boss to received a reduced sentence.
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