Banciao District prosecutors yesterday indicted 24 people accused of involvement in a professional baseball match-fixing scandal, including former La New Bears pitcher Chang Chih-chia (張誌家), Brother Elephants player Chen Chih-yuan (陳致遠) and Tainan County Council Speaker Wu Chien-bao (吳健保).
Prosecutors decided not to indict another 11 players, while 24 others were handed a deferred prosecution, which means they will be indicted if they are involved in any misconduct in the future.
Several players, including Chang and Chen, were charged with fraud and gambling. Prosecutors requested two-year prison sentences for the players allegedly involved in match-fixing, said Cheng Hsin-hung (鄭鑫宏), a spokesperson for the Banciao Prosecutors’ Office.
They said they did not request leniency in the indictments for Chang and Chen because the pair refused to admit to the charges against them, showed no remorse for the crimes they allegedly committed and did not cooperate with the investigation.
Chang had allegedly been persuaded by the “Windshield Wipers” criminal gang to throw games by accepting bribes in the form of expensive cars and cash.
Chen is suspected of taking NT$1 million (US$32,000) to cooperate in match-fixing in 2006.
Tsai Cheng-yi (蔡政宜) and other members of the gambling group that solicited players to throw games were also indicted along with the players.
Prosecutors requested lighter sentences for Tsai and others in the gang because they believe they did not threaten players to fix games. Members of the criminal gang were also very cooperative during the investigation process and provided valuable information and evidence, prosecutors said.
Although prosecutors believe that Elephants pitcher Tsao Chin-hui (曹錦輝) and Sinon Bulls Hsieh Chia-hsien (謝佳賢) also received “inappropriate benefits” from the Windshield Wipers, prosecutors did not indict them because there was insufficient evidence to back up the allegations.
Former Brother Elephants coach Shim Nakagomi was also accused of telling players to throw games, with prosecutors requesting a year-and-a-half jail term. He was arrested in November after prosecutors got wind of his plan to flee the country.
Prosecutors requested a nine-year prison sentence and fine of NT$50 million for Wu and alleged that the council speaker was involved in fraud and organized crime in connection with the match-fixing case.
Wu was mired in rumors that he had faked illness when he checked into the hospital just one day after receiving a court summons to appear for questioning last month.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting
RSS