Several elected officials in Yunlin County have been convicted of corruption and handed jail terms by the Yunlin District Court in two separate cases tied to an onshore wind power development project.
They include former Mailiao Township (麥寮) mayor Tsai Chang-kun (蔡長昆), former county council speaker Shen Tsung-lung (沈宗隆), who has stepped down as speaker, but remains a councilor, and current councilor Wang You-min (王又民).
In one case, Tsai was sentenced on Aug. 14 to five years and six months in prison and stripped of his civil rights for four years for using undue influence to obtain illicit gains, the court said.
Photo: Lee Wen-te, Taipei Times
Codefendant Chen Ying-nan (陳英南) received a six-month sentence, suspended for two years and convertible to a fine, for attempted extortion, it said.
The ruling said that Tsai ordered the suspension of an onshore wind power project run by wpd Taiwan Energy Co and staged a protest under the pretext of defending residents’ rights. However, the action was aimed at securing financial benefits for himself.
Faced with potential heavy losses, wpd Taiwan turned to then-council speaker Shen, who helped arrange a meeting with Tsai.
The company eventually struck an “agreement” to pay Tsai NT$3.2 million (US$104,729) for eight wind turbines in Mailiao Township. Tsai also demanded “custom-made pipeline engineering fees” and arranged for parts of the construction project to be contracted to Chen, the court said.
Chen never carried out the contracted work, as he was unable to meet its conditions. He and Tsai admitted to their actions during the investigation and trial, the court said.
In a separate case, Shen was sentenced to three years and six months in prison and stripped of his civil rights for eight years, while Wang received nine years and six months and the same period of civil rights deprivation, both for accepting bribes, the court said in a statement on Monday.
Also implicated was former wpd Taiwan chairwoman Wang Yun-yi (王雲怡), who was sentenced to two years in prison and deprived of her civil rights for two years for bribery.
Wpd Taiwan employee Pan Cheng-kang (潘正綱) was given a six-month sentence, suspended for two years and convertible to a fine, for bribery and falsifying accounting records, while contractor Chung Ching-lang (鍾慶郎) was found guilty of accepting bribes, although the court did not impose a penalty.
Wpd Taiwan bribed Shen and Wang You-min through subcontractors and other intermediaries, disguising the payments as construction fees, the court said.
In return, the councilors were expected to monitor the Yunlin County Government, remove local opposition, and track the progress of documents and applications related to the wind power project, it said.
The court also found that Shen received additional benefits by supplying construction materials through contractor Chung’s company, from which both men profited.
While Shen, Pan, and Chung admitted their guilt during the investigation, Wang You-min and former wpd Taiwan chairwoman Wang Yun-yi denied wrongdoing, the court said.
Both cases can be appealed.
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