The Supreme Court yesterday rejected an appeal by former Kinmen county commissioner Lee Wo-shih (李沃士) in a corruption case, upholding his seven-year-and-six-month sentence.
The court affirmed Lee’s earlier conviction of “taking a bribe while on official duty” in contravention of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), and ruled that he must serve the prison term imposed by the High Court in a retrial in May. He would also be deprived of his civil rights for five years.
That was the final verdict on the case.
Photo: Taipei Times
The May trial had also overturned an earlier trial that found Lee’s wife, Su Feng-ying (蘇鳳英), guilty of being an accomplice in the crime; she was acquitted.
Lee, representing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), served as commissioner from 2009 to 2014. He had authority over Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor — known for its sorghum-fermented kaoliang and other liquor products — as it was owned and operated by the county government.
Investigations found that Lee had two main financial backers for his election campaign: a technology company chairman surnamed Hsu (徐) and a marketing firm chairman surnamed Huang (黃). They had bankrolled Lee for many years and helped him win two terms as county councilor in the early 2000s.
Hsu and Huang originally wanted Lee to give them a monopoly over the casino and gaming business in Kinmen County, but they met opposition from regulatory bodies and other sectors, the ruling said.
The two decided they wanted to obtain the rights to sell Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor products in China instead, as the demand in the Chinese market could make big profits.
Lee prompted company executives to go for a new marketing campaign for its high-end products, but Hsu and Huang said the retail prices were too high so margins would be low, it said.
The ruling said Lee and Su were invited for dinner at Hsu’s house on July 2011, where he was requested to ask officials to adjust the prices to raise the margins from liquor sales in China.
Su was given a paper bag containing bundles of cash amounting to NT$1 million (US$30,762), which was then handed to Lee, the ruling said.
Lee later used his authority to pressure the company to lower its prices and grant discounts to retailers at below 60 percent, it said.
Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor executives held an internal discussion and in a final meeting in October 2011 decided to scrap the marketing program, and the public tender was canceled, the ruling said.
Soon after the company’s decision, someone filed a complaint to prosecutors and alleged that Lee and Su had taken bribes, which led to the investigation in late 2011.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS