Several star baseball players, gang members and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Tainan County Council speaker Wu Chien-pao (吳健保) were yesterday found guilty of having played a part in the match-fixing scandal that rocked the domestic league in 2009, but critics said the punishments they have received do not fit their crimes.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday announced that it has determined that the defendants conspired to fix Chinese Professional Baseball League games by colluding with various illegal gambling syndicates, starting from the 2006 season.
Of the 35 players charged in 2010 in the case, three high-profile figures were found guilty yesterday: former Brother Elephants power hitters Chen Chih-yuan (陳致遠) and Tsai Fong-an (蔡豐安), and former La New Bears ace pitcher Chang Chih-chia (張誌家).
Photo: CNA
The High Court’s ruling reduced the trio’s original jail terms from one to two-and-a-half years, to between four and six months. Chen and Tsai can commute their jail terms by paying a fine of NT$162,000 (US$5,400) each, while Chang can do so with a NT$120,000 payment.
The 2009 game-fixing scandal was the fifth to have erupted in the league and is known as the “Windshield Wiper” (雨刷) baseball scandal because Tsai Cheng-yi (蔡政宜), the alleged mastermind behind the main gambling syndicate, is nicknamed “The Windshield Wiper.”
Tsai Cheng-yi got a jail sentence of three years and eight months in yesterday’s verdict, which cannot be commuted to a fine.
Photo: CNA
In the ruling, the court also found Wu guilty of financing Tsai Cheng-yi and his “Windshield Wiper” gambling syndicate and sentenced the former council speaker to three years and two months in jail.
Another key figure named in the ruling is Brother Elephants pitcher Chuang Yu-lin (莊侑霖), who the court says was the gambling syndicates’ main contact. He received a three-year term that can be commuted to a fine.
Tseng Han-chou (曾漢州), former slugger for the Chinatrust Whales, was also found guilty and, in addition to his original one-year jail sentence, received a separate one-year and 10-month term that can be commuted through paying fines.
The High Court’s ruling drew condemnation from sports circles, fans and experts yesterday, who said the light sentences are detrimental to the sport’s development because the guilty players have gotten away with committing major criminal offenses without having to serve prison sentences.
CPBL deputy secretary-general Wang Hui-min (王惠民) expressed regret over the verdicts on behalf of the league.
“We are worried that the sentencing will not deter other players from undertaking such actions in the future and thus damage pro baseball in Taiwan,” he said.
“This ruling shows that the presiding judges do not understand professional baseball very well. It also shows that they do not appreciate the serious harm this scandal has inflicted on the sport and on society,” Wang said.
Chinatrust Brothers manager and former CPBL secretary-general Wayne Lee (李文彬) said he was disappointed with the verdict, adding that he is concerned that criminal syndicates will once again try to infiltrate the nation’s ballparks to entice players to throw games.
The “Windshield Wiper” scandal broke in 2009, when a judicial probe was launched a day after the finale of the CPBL championship series in October.
Before the scandal broke, Chen, Tsai Fong-an and Chang were popular players, as well as members of the national squad at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
Chang was a starting pitching for Japan’s Seibu Lions from 2002 to 2006, before getting released and returning to Taiwan in 2008.
“Our society must revamp baseball in the education system,” baseball broadcaster and former national team player Yang Ching-lung (楊清瓏) said. “The student players are focused only on athletics, and we neglect their proper education in ethics and morality. Some baseball players do not understand that they must keep clean and refrain from bribes and criminal activities.”
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have declared they survived recall votes to remove them from office today, although official results are still pending as the vote counting continues. Although final tallies from the Central Election Commission (CEC) are still pending, preliminary results indicate that the recall campaigns against all seven KMT lawmakers have fallen short. As of 6:10 pm, Taichung Legislators Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) and Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), Hsinchu County Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘), Nantou County Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) and New Taipei City Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) had all announced they
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday visited Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), as the chipmaker prepares for volume production of Nvidia’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) chips. It was Huang’s third trip to Taiwan this year, indicating that Nvidia’s supply chain is deeply connected to Taiwan. Its partners also include packager Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品精密) and server makers Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Quanta Computer Inc (廣達). “My main purpose is to visit TSMC,” Huang said yesterday. “As you know, we have next-generation architecture called Rubin. Rubin is very advanced. We have now taped out six brand new