The Yilan District Court yesterday found Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) guilty of corruption, sentencing her to 12 years and six months in prison.
The Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office in 2022 indicted 10 government officials and five private individuals, including Lin, her daughter and a landowner.
Lin was accused of giving illegal favors estimated to be worth NT$2.4 million (US$73,213) in exchange for using a property to conduct activities linked to the 2020 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential and legislative election campaigns.
Photo: Yu Ming-chin, Taipei Times
Those favors included exempting some property and construction firms from land taxes and building code contraventions that would have required the demolition of an illegal structure.
In addition, prosecutors accused Lin of being part of a NT$70 million money laundering scheme that utilized an account she held in association with a farmers’ cooperative.
Lin was guilty of the crimes of conferring illegitimate benefits on another and having unexplained income under the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), and breaching the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), the verdict said.
She would serve jail time, forfeit NT$32.5 million of illegal profits and be deprived of her civil rights for six years, it said.
The court lengthened Lin’s prison sentence for undermining the credibility of elected officials, the verdict said.
Lin Yi-lin (林羿伶), Lin Zi-miao’s daughter, received a longer sentence for interfering with public office and usurping powers reserved for an elected official, the verdict said.
Twelve other defendants were convicted on charges related to giving illegal benefits, forgery and money laundering, with sentences ranging from one year to five years in prison, and deprivation of their civil rights, it said.
Yilan Department of Economic Affairs Acting Director Huang Chih-liang (黃志良) was the sole defendant not convicted of a crime.
Lin Zi-miao, who was in court to hear the judgement, told reporters that she was the victim of politically motivated persecution.
The Local Government Act (地方制度法) stipulates that mayors and county commissioners are to be suspended upon being convicted of corruption at their first trial.
The Ministry of the Interior yesterday confirmed that Yilan County Deputy Commissioner Lin Mao-sheng (林茂盛) had assumed office as acting county commissioner.
The ministry would not approve any application from convicted officials to receive reduced pay, it said, citing the government’s need to show no tolerance for corruption.
Lin Zi-miao said that she would appeal the ruling.
The KMT said that it regrets the court’s “unfair” judgement and would fully support Lin Zi-miao’s efforts to appeal her prison sentence.
Additional reporting by Lin Che-yuan
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