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.
Netflix on Wednesday said it is to charge NT$100 more per month for each user that is not part of the same household. Under the plan, the streaming service is to limit viewership to people who live in the same household. If a member wishes to add people outside of their address, they must pay NT$100 more per person every month. No additional viewers can be added to the NT$270 per month “basic” account. “Standard” accounts (NT$330) can add one user, while “premium” (NT$390) accounts can add two users. The company has said that people in the same household would still be able
PRESSURE POINT: Beijing might seek to lean on Musk to prevent his SpaceX from providing Taiwan access to its Starlink satellite system, ‘The Economist’ said Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) called out Elon Musk on Twitter, saying the value of democracy transcends that of money after the Tesla CEO said that China was likely to “integrate” Taiwan. Asked in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday last week if “China would make a move to take control of Taiwan,” Musk said that “the official policy of China is that Taiwan should be integrated... One does not need to read between the lines.” “There is a certain inevitability to the situation,” he added. “That is their policy, and I think you should take their word seriously,” Musk said. Regarding
VIGILANCE: The mask mandate would remain in effect at healthcare facilities, healthcare-related institutes and senior welfare facilities due to high infection risks there The mask mandate would be extended next month for three types of venues, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday as it reported that the average daily number of hospitalized COVID-19 cases increased by more than 30 percent last week. Local COVID-19 cases last week rose to an average of 204 daily hospitalizations, an increase of 32.5 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. The number of prescriptions for oral anti-viral drugs to treat COVID-19 also increased to 23,503 courses — 17,424 courses of Paxlovid and 6,079 courses of molnupiravir. The average positivity rate
GROWING FAST: China continues to outpace the US in its production and commissioning of ships, as it seeks to expand ‘far seas operations,’ an ex-US Navy captain said China continued to increase its naval capacity last year, indicating that it is seeking to bolster its ability to invade Taiwan, a retired US Navy captain said. In an article published in this month’s issue of the US Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine, retired US Navy Captain James Fanell wrote that China commissioned 10 warships and one submarine last year, and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) was continuing to commission the most annual tonnage globally, as it has done for at least the past five years. The PLAN is also outproducing the US Navy in total number of ships, tonnage and
RSS