The Supreme Court last week rejected an appeal by former New Taipei City councilor Chen Ko-ming (陳科名), upholding his sentence of 10 years and eight months in prison on bribery charges.
Chen, of the Democratic Progressive Party, was found to have accepted kickbacks and bribes from property developers in exchange for pressuring city officials to speed up building permit approvals.
The courts determined that Chen illegally obtained NT$13.07 million (US$415,580) through the scheme, in contravention of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
Photo: Taipei Times
Chen began serving as a Taipei County councilor in 2006, before it was upgraded to a special municipality, and later won three consecutive terms as a New Taipei City councilor.
In 2012, Chen used his wife’s name and undisclosed arrangements to invest in two companies affiliated with an earthwork and debris removal operator, prosecutors said.
He accepted requests from seven developers and exerted pressure on the city’s Department of Public Works and Department of Urban and Rural Development to accelerate permit approvals, they said.
He then required the developers to award earthwork and debris removal contracts to designated companies, profiting from the scheme, they added.
Prosecutors said they concluded that Chen received more than NT$17.17 million in bribes and other improper benefits.
However, the New Taipei City District Court found him guilty of accepting only NT$13.07 million in bribes and sentenced him to a combined prison term of 10 years and eight months, along with five years’ deprivation of civil rights. He was acquitted of charges related to an additional NT$4.1 million.
Both Chen and prosecutors appealed the ruling.
The Taiwan High Court upheld the original verdict, and the Supreme Court on Tuesday last week dismissed further appeals, making the judgement final.
Chen is already serving a sentence of seven years and six months, which was finalized last year, for accepting NT$200,000 in bribes from a businessman in exchange for pressuring a demolition unit to delay the removal of an illegal factory building.
He began serving that sentence in April last year.
In other news, the Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office on Dec. 18 indicted independent Chiayi County Councilor Tsai Cheng-yi (蔡政宜) for alleged cross-border money laundering and involvement in organized crime.
Prosecutors indicted Tsai on charges of initiating, hosting, controlling or directing a criminal organization, aggravated money laundering, and providing venues for gambling or organizing gambling for profit, prosecutors said in a statement released yesterday.
Six members of the alleged money-laundering ring have also been indicted, while arrest warrants have been issued for seven suspects who fled abroad, including Tsai’s wife, surnamed Tang (唐), prosecutors said.
Tsai and Tang allegedly established the organization in 2020 to collect and distribute funds for a Thailand-based gambling Web site, prosecutors said.
Members were allegedly directed to set up bases in Taiwan, including seven in Kaohsiung, as well as in Malaysia and Vietnam, and to acquire large numbers of dummy accounts to conceal illicit cash flows, prosecutors said.
The syndicate allegedly laundered 24.25 billion baht (US$769.5 million at the current exchange rate), generating illicit gains of 214.95 million baht for Tsai and Tang, they said.
Authorities have seized 85 luxury handbags and one luxury watch, as well as cash and real estate valued at NT$174.42 million, the statement said.
Tsai was convicted in a 2009 baseball game-fixing scandal, in which he and his intermediaries bribed players to fix games. He was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison in that case.
Despite being elected as a councilor, he showed no remorse for his actions, and instead exploited his public office to shield his criminal activities, they said.
Tsai acted as the behind-the-scenes mastermind of the money-laundering operation, directing it through his wife, while publicly denying any personal involvement, they said.
Prosecutors are seeking a 10-year prison sentence for Tsai.
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