The Supreme Administrative Court yesterday nullified last year’s sentencing of former Executive Yuan secretary-general and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker Lin Yi-shih (林益世), after legal experts of the ruling said that four years and 10 months in jail would be too lenient.
The case is to be retried at the High Court.
The decision came after the Supreme Administrative Court on Thursday upheld convictions against Lin for corruption.
Photo: CNA
The retrial is expected to take into account Thursday’s ruling, which said that the accused had been involved in illicit activities “in relation to their job duties and official government functions.”
Legal experts say the High Court might find Lin guilty of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and that the new sentence would be closer to a prison term of 13 years and six months that the same court handed down in 2016, saying that Lin “used his authority and job duties as legislator for influence peddling.” That verdict was later overturned.
Experts say that Thursday’s ruling would clarify the legal basis for the sentencing.
In the first ruling, the Taipei District Court in 2013 found Lin not guilty of corruption.
The district court said Lin had accepted NT$63 million (US$2.06 million at the current exchange rate), but they were “fees to help negotiate a deal” unrelated to his duties as lawmaker.
However, it found Lin guilty of criminal charges and sentenced him to five years and six months in prison, saying he took “advantage of his authority, or means afforded by his official position, for intimidation on deriving financial benefits.”
Lin served four terms as a lawmaker and was Executive Yuan secretary-general during former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) second term.
Investigators said that Lin accepted a NT$63 million bribe from Kaohsiung-based Ti Yung Co (地勇選礦公司) for helping them secure a slag treatment contract with a subsidiary of China Steel Corp.
Lin originally asked Ti Yung for NT$83 million, they said.
On Thursday, Supreme Administrative Court spokesman Hsu Chang-chin (徐昌錦) said that the court’s decision would help clarify under which circumstances legislators who influence procurement decisions or the allocation of funds are guilty of corruption.
This includes when they seek financial gains for themselves or others, Hsu said.
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