The Banciao District Court yesterday handed down a prison sentence of 10 years and four months to former lieutenant-general Yuan Hsiao-lung (袁肖龍) for his part in a scandal involving military officers using bribes to obtain promotion.
Judges said in their ruling that as a soldier, Yuan’s actions undermined the credibility of the nation’s military and that in his pursuit of “fame and riches” he became blind to moral values such as fairness and righteousness.
Along with Yuan, businessman Lin Chih-chung (林治崇) was sentenced to three years in prison for acting as a middleman.
The ruling said that Lin was given a relatively lighter sentence because he partially confessed to the charges against him.
Tsai Yu (蔡瑜), wife of Colonel Yang Tung-shan (楊東山), was convicted of taking NT$1.95 million (US$60,000) in bribes and sentenced to seven years in prison.
Other co-defendants involved in the scandal were convicted of being accomplices to bribery and received sentences of less than two years.
In April, prosecutors indicted Yuan on charges of offering bribes of NT$6 million to military officers and sought a prison sentence of 22 years. Lin was indicted on bribery, blackmail and forgery charges.
Prosecutors also alleged Lin acted as a middleman and tried to gain Yuan’s trust by showing him a forged recommendation letter from then-Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) in an attempt to convince Yuan that he could help him gain a promotion.
The sentences can be appealed.
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