The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a seven-year jail sentence for corruption for Hualien County Councilor Chen Ying-mei (陳英妹) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in the final verdict in the case, which began in 2010.
Chen, 71, was also deprived of her civil rights for five years, and prohibited from running for office.
Chen, from the Amis Lacihakan Community in Rueisui Township (瑞穗), has been a councilor since 2005.
The case involved civic projects in 2006 and 2007 — public tenders for government buildings and an Aboriginal cultural hall in Jian Township (吉安), and a procurement program for a school in Guangfu Township (光復), with a total budget of NT$8 million (US$281,027 at the current exchange rate).
Chen was indicted in 2010 on charges of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), including bid-rigging, colluding with contractors and taking bribes.
She was accused of colluding with local officials, and demanding NT$1.3 million in kickbacks from a contractor surnamed Lin (林) for the Jian Township projects, and NT$530,000 for the Guangfu Township school procurement.
The Hualien District Court in 2012 found Chen guilty and sentenced her to 12 years in prison.
A second ruling by the High Court in 2014 upheld the 12-year sentence.
Chen appealed the second ruling and in 2019, the High Court found her guilty of one count of taking a bribe — in the Guangfu school project — and reduced the sentence to seven years.
Meanwhile, two former mayors of Pingtung County’s Linluo Township (麟洛) — Lee Hsin-huang (李新煌) and Tsai Chih-ho (蔡志和) — were yesterday sentenced to seven and eight years respectively on corruption charges in another final ruling.
Lee, of the Democratic Progressive Party, served as mayor from 2006 to 2014, and Tsai, who had been Lee’s chief secretary, served as mayor from 2014 to 2017.
They were convicted of demanding kickbacks of 5 to 15 percent of public infrastructure projects, receiving a total of NT$7.1 million.
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