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Ex-Cabinet
secretary-general indicted
CORRUPTION: Lin Yi-shih, his mother and his wife
were charged in the bribery case, but a legislator questioned why investigators
had never subpoenaed Lin’s father
By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Chris Wang / Staff reporters, with CNA
Former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世) was indicted yesterday
on corruption-related charges, prosecutors said.
Lin was accused of demanding bribes, pocketing about NT$60 million (US$2
million) in bribes, concealing illegal gains and keeping unaccountable assets,
the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division (SID) said.
Although prosecutors did not seek a specific sentence for Lin, the crime of
accepting bribes alone carries a minimum prison sentence of 10 years.
SID spokesman Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達) said the prosecutors did not specify a sentence
for Lin because the Control Yuan has deemed the practice inappropriate.
Lin’s case came to light on June 27 when a local magazine reported that he
helped Kaohsiung-based Ti Yung Co (地勇選礦公司) secure a slag treatment contract from
a subsidiary of China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) in 2010, when Lin was serving as a
legislator of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
In return, Ti Yung owner Chen Chi-hsiang (陳啟祥) gave Lin NT$63 million, the
indictment read.
The magazine reported that Lin demanded a further NT$83 million from Chen early
this year after he was appointed Cabinet secretary-general. When Chen refused to
pay up, Lin allegedly pressured CSC, a listed company in which the government
has a controlling stake, to stop supplying slag to Ti Yung.
Lin, 42, was taken into custody by prosecutors for investigation on July 2.
Lin’s mother, Shen Juo-lan (沈若蘭), who allegedly received the bribe along with
Lin, was indicted as another principal offender in the case, according to the
indictment.
Lin’s wife, Peng Ai-chia (彭愛佳), and two of his maternal uncles — Shen Huan-yao
(沈煥瑤) and Shen Huan-hu — were charged with money laundering for concealing the
bribe on behalf of Lin, the indictment read.
Chen Chi-hsiang, who gave testimony against Lin as a witness for the
prosecutors, was under investigation in a separate case by the Kaohsiung
District Prosecutors’ Office.
Executive Yuan spokesperson Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said the Cabinet had no further
comment other than that it respected the investigation conducted by the
judiciary and hoped it would adhere to the principles of justice and fairness.
KMT Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟), convener of the legislative Judiciary and
Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, said there was still room for argument as
to whether Lin is guilty and which laws would be applied to the case when it is
tried in court.
Lin and his attorney could argue that Lin was not in a position to decide whom
subsidiary companies of state-owned enterprises sign contracts with because Lin
— either as a lawmaker or KMT policy committee chief then — did not have that
kind of power, Lu said.
Prosecutors applied articles under the Anti-Corruption Act (貪汙治罪條例) to indict
Lin, but it is debatable whether the act was applicable to Lin’s case, Lu said,
adding: “Lin did have a say in contract matters, but he did not have the final
say.”
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said “it was
not a surprise that Lin was indicted, but the results the SID announced were a
lot different from what most people had expected. Does the indictment indeed
reflect the entire picture of the case?”
DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said that while he would comment further after
reading the indictment, it appeared the SID had already “drawn a red line”
before making the indictment.
Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) said it was strange that
Lin’s father, Lin Hsien-pao (林仙保), who was present at the meeting between Lin
and Chen Chi-hsiang, had never been subpoenaed by the investigators and the SID
had not offered an explanation of the omission.
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