The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a guilty verdict against former Taipei City councilor Lai Su-ju (賴素如) in a corruption case dating back to 2013.
Rejecting Lai’s appeal, the Supreme Court upheld a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence handed down by the Taiwan High Court, and suspended his civil rights for four years.
The NT$1 million (US$35,023 at the current exchange rate) that she received in kickbacks has been confiscated.
As Lai was to remain free until her prison term began, the court instructed the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office to ensure that she does not flee.
In 2014, Lai was convicted before the Taipei District Court, after being charged a year earlier with taking a bribe from a consortium led by Taipei Gateway International Development Co in return for ensuring that it won the tender to develop the proposed Taipei Twin Towers (台北雙子星大樓) project near Taipei Railway Station in October 2012 with a NT$70 billion bid.
She was convicted of taking a down payment of NT$1 million in cash from a bagman identified only by the surname Peng (彭).
The district court sentenced Lai to 10 years in prison and suspended her civil rights for five years, but Lai appealed the decision.
In the 2016 appeal, the Taiwan High Court sentenced her to nine years in prison and suspended her civil rights for nine years.
Lai again appealed and the Supreme Court asked the high court to review its verdict.
As a result, Lai’s prison term was reduced to seven-and-a-half years and her civil rights were suspended for four years.
Lai had previously been acquitted on charges of owning property of unknown origin and concealing the proceeds of criminal activity.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to