Taiwan News
2010-07-27
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Taiwan High Court on Tuesday cut a prison sentence for a key aide to former President Chen Shui-bian to seven months from nine years.
Chen Che-nan, no relation of the ex-president, was found guilty by a lower court of misusing his function as presidential deputy secretary-general to defraud a construction tycoon of NT$6 million (US$187,000). Chen reportedly offered the businessman to help him change the outcome of a court case. The original sentence was 12 years in prison.
The Taiwan High Court then cut Chen’s prison sentence to nine years, but both prosecutors and attorneys for the official filed protests with the Supreme Court, which ordered a new ruling.
In the reversal Tuesday, the High Court ruled that Chen did not use his function to obtain the money, so the charge he was found guilty of should be changed to common fraud. Under rules applying to the kind of charges, the regular sentence of 14 months in prison was cut to seven months.   more …
