The Taichung District Court has sentenced an army technician and a contractor for their roles in a procurement scandal involving the production of CM-32 Clouded Leopard armored vehicles.
Army technician Lee Ti-kuang (李迪光) was sentenced to seven years and eight months in jail and fined NT$700,000 (US$25,197), while contractor Chang Kuang-ming (張光明) was sentenced to two years and two months in jail and fined NT$300,000, according to a ruling statement released yesterday.
It was the latest round of convictions and sentences in the 2015 case concerning production contracts for CM-32 vehicles worth NT$4.8 billion, after an investigation found that contractors had used unapproved Chinese-made components that did not meet contract specifications.
Thirty-three people were indicted in October 2015, including military officers and contractors, after a probe found evidence of bid-rigging, bribery, fraud, misconduct in not carrying out proper testing and other illegal activities.
Chang, the owner of Taichung-based Yi Rong Technology allegedly paid Lee, a technician in the army’s Ordnance Readiness Development Center, NT$1.17 million in bribes related to the deal, an investigation found.
In previous decisions, the court convicted 27 people for contraventions of the Government Procurement Act (政府採購法), the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and the Business Entity Accounting Act (商業會計法), imposing sentences of four months to multiple years.
In 2012, the Ministry of National Defense tendered a project to provide chassis, power equipment and assembly work for the vehicles. Taoyuan-based Chung Hsin Electric and Machinery Manufacturing won the project with a NT$4.6 billion bid, well below the NT$7.8 billion minimum set out in the tender.
After securing the bid, Chung Hsin subcontracted the main assembly work to Yi Rong, while subcontracting the installation of the fueling system to Taichung-based Liu Tie Co.
Lee and other army technicians were responsible for some project oversight, inspections and testing to ensure standards and specifications were being followed, and that the assembled systems functioned according to contract criteria.
Chung Hsin chairman Chiang Yi-fu (江義福), whose case remains pending, was among those indicted in 2015.
From August 2012 to March 2015, Chang allegedly paid Lee to go easy on inspections and approve parts for vehicle assembly, the investigation showed.
Chiang allegedly sought to collude with subcontractors and suppliers to forge documents, make fraudulent transactions and engage in fraudulent accounting, the investigation showed.
Chiang was found to have bribed military procurement officers and army staff, while providing substandard parts from China, investigators said.
Contractors imported refurbished hydraulic pumps from China for NT$35,000 per unit, but charged the ministry NT$150,000 each, and steering mechanisms for NT$23,000 per unit, but were recorded as costing NT$190,000 each, the investigation showed.
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