Prosecutors from the Special Investigation Panel yesterday questioned a businessman after he alleged that a detained Taiwan High Court judge had sought bribes when hearing his case.
The Taiwan High Court on June 29 sentenced former Bank of Overseas Chinese president Liang Po-hsun (梁柏薰) to 10 months in prison for helping Wang Hsuan-jen (王宣仁), former general manager of the bankrupt Chung Shing Bank, flee the country.
SENTENCED
Wang was sentenced in 2007 to six years and eight months in prison for breach of trust in connection with a multibillion-dollar loan scandal.
Liang last month told reporters that Taiwan High Court Judge Chen Jung-ho (陳榮和), who is already embroiled in another bribery scandal involving a former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, had sought bribes when hearing Liang’s case as a presiding judge.
BRIBE REQUEST
Liang alleged that Chen had requested NT$3 million (US$100,000) in bribes through his lawyer, surnamed Lai, but because he only gave Chen NT$800,000, Chen, who thought the amount was too small, returned the money and convicted him instead.
Taipei prosecutors yesterday issued a notice letter requesting that Liang report to prosecutors within a few days to begin his prison sentence.
Chen was detained last month along with two other judges in another corruption scandal.
ALLEGATIONS
The three judges are suspected of receiving bribes when handling four charges against former KMT legislator and Miaoli County commissioner Ho Chih-hui (何智輝). Prosecutors believe the trio took or facilitated bribes offered by Ho in return for overturning a guilty verdict by a lower court in a corruption case stemming from his time as a legislator.
Chen was also accused by Angela Ying (應曉薇), an actress turned prison councilor, who said that Chen, working through a defense lawyer, had sought to extort NT$3 million from a defendant in a murder case. However, because the defendant was not able to raise the money, Chen sentenced him to death. Ying did not name the defendant.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
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