Former Executive Yuan -secretary-general Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) and former Veterans Affairs Commission minister Hu Chen-pu (胡鎮埔) were found guilty of corruption by the Taipei District Court yesterday.
Chen was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in prison for allegedly instructing commission officials to raise funds illegally in 2007 and then giving the money to four legislative candidates from various political parties.
In its ruling, the court also deprived Chen of his civil rights for three years.
Hu was sentenced to 10 years in prison for corruption and also deprived of his civil rights for three years.
The ruling also sentenced former commission secretary--general Cha Tai-chen (查台傳) to seven years and six months in prison and suspended his civil rights for three years, while another former commission official and three former officials of the commission-owned RPTL International received sentences in the case.
All defendants are able to appeal the ruling with the Taiwan High Court, the ruling added.
The ruling said in 2007 Chen asked Hu to solicit funding from RPTL International and other companies in which the commission had invested.
Hu secured a total of NT$1.4 million (US$44,000) from the companies and donated the money to four candidates in that year’s legislative elections.
The ruling said then--candidate Yu Tian (余天) of the Democratic Progressive Party received NT$1 million, while then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) received NT$200,000, and that Non-Partisan Solidarity Union candidate May Chin (高金素梅) and Taiwan Solidarity Union candidate Huang Chung-yung (黃宗源) each received NT$100,000.
Prosecutors added that Yu, Lin, Chin and Huang confirmed they had received the donations, but were unaware of the source.
The four did not break the law by accepting the donations and were therefore not indicted, the -prosecutors added.
Hu, who on Sept. 3 announced he would run in January’s legislative elections in Bade (八德), Taoyuan County, as an independent candidate, said the ruling was political persecution.
“It is obviously meant to try to stop me from running in the [legislative] election,” he said, vowing to continue his election campaign and appeal the case.
He said he was not the person who actually raised the funds, nor did he give instructions to do so.
Chen also called the ruling politically motivated and said he would file an appeal.
Additional reporting by CNA
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘NOT SUBORDINATE’: Only Taiwanese can decide the nation’s future, and people preserving their democratic way of life is not a provocation, President William Lai said Taiwan does not want China’s “one country, two systems,” and must uphold its freedom and democracy as well as resolve to defend itself, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, rejecting Beijing’s latest bid to bring the country under Chinese control. The president made the remarks while attending a commissioning ceremony for Taiwan’s first battalion of M1A2T Abrams tanks in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口). The tanks are made by General Dynamics, a major US defense contractor. China this week said it “absolutely will not” rule out using force over Taiwan, striking a much tougher tone than a series of articles in state media
RSS