The Taipei District Court yesterday handed down several verdicts for former police officers, brothel owners, drivers and "fake husbands" involved in the sex trade.
According to the verdict of Judge Chen Kun-dee (陳坤地), former police officer Liu Chun-hui (劉春輝) was sentenced to 16 years and the loss of his civil rights for 10 years; former police officer Tu Chien-hua (涂建華) was sentenced to 15 years and his civil rights will be deprived for 10 years; former officer Chen Liang-ta (陳良達) received 12 years and the loss of his civil rights for 10 years; and former police officer Tu Chia-shen (杜家申) was sentenced for 10 years and the loss of his civil rights for five years.
Su Chih-cheng (蘇志誠), who worked as a driver for a brothel, was sentenced 13 years and the loss of his civil rights for five years.
"Fake husbands" Lee Chen-shou (
"Fake husbands" marry Chin-ese prostitutes so that they can enter Taiwan. Both of their sentences will be suspended for five years. Lee was also a brothel owner.
Innocent
Judge Chen also ruled that former police officers Chuang Wen-tsung (
The verdicts were handed down in cases stemming from a series of prostitution scandals that began on Sept. 4, when Taipei City's Criminal Investigation Corps arrested Liu, Tu Chia-shen, Su and Mu, who had reportedly pretended to be clients and requested call-girls from China. When the Chinese prostitutes arrived, the four men kidnapped them in order to extort money from their managers.
Liu and Tu admitted to prosecutors that they had masterminded the crime, saying they needed money to pay back loan sharks.
Organizers
Investigators also discovered that the criminal ring was masterminded by Chen Liang-ta, Liu, Tu Chia-shen, Tu Chien-hua, Chuang and Lee.
They also discovered that members of the criminal ring included brothel drivers, who would work with the officers to extort money from other brothels.
On Sept. 21, the scandals snowballed. Investigators also searched a brothel that was suspected of being managed by former detective Lin Chia-fu (
They discovered Lin's personal belongings, including account books, and a list of what police said was other brothel managers he extorted and the amounts they paid him.
On the run
But on Sept. 19, before prosecutors were able to track down Lin, he left for Macau and headed to China a few days later. Police say he remains there.
Tsao Ti-yuan (鄒體元) and Tsai Bing-huang (蔡炳煌), who are accused of being "fake husbands," are still at large and their names are on the police's most-wanted list.
According to Taipei Chief Prosecutor Chu Chao-min's (朱兆民) indictment, both Tsao and Tsai have been recommended for a one-year sentence.
But the court will not hand down any sentence until they are arrested.
Other than reading the verdict in court, Judge Chen also said he hoped the defendants learned a lesson throughout their trial.
"Public servants shouldn't accept bribes, needless to say blackmail others. I hope that you'll keep that in mind, especially those of you who are former police officers," Chen said during the trial.
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