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Lafayette scandal’s
Kuo a free man
MAXIMUM TERM: Kuo Li-heng has also been
convicted of accepting US$17 million in kickbacks, but even if his appeal fails
he will not have to serve another jail term
By Rich Chang / Staff reporter
Former navy captain Kuo Li-heng,
second left, stands wearing a surgical mask in an undated file photo. Kuo was
released earlier this month after serving nearly 20 years in prison for his part
in the corrupt procurement of Lafayette-class frigates from France.
Photo: CNA
Former navy captain Kuo Li-heng (郭力恆), a
key figure in the procurement of six Lafayette-class frigates from France in
1991, was released earlier this month after serving a near 20-year prison term.
Kuo had been serving a life sentence since 1994 on separate charges of taking
bribes and disclosing classified information related to a minesweeper
procurement deal and the Lafayette procurement deal.
Kuo, now in his early 70s, is benefiting from a clause in the Criminal Code that
limits a prison term to a maximum of 20 years, which granted him a partial
commutation of his sentence.
Following an amendment to the Code of Court Martial Procedure (軍事審判法) in August,
which transferred the jurisdiction of all military criminal cases to the
civilian judicial system during peacetime, the Ministry of Justice told a press
conference yesterday that Kuo’s case was transferred to the civil judicial
system in August and he was at that time moved to Taipei Prison.
Prior to his transfer to Taipei Prison, Kuo requested parole three times, but
each was rejected by the military judicial system, the ministry said.
The ministry said that after Kuo was transferred to Taipei Prison, he applied to
the Taiwan High Court to have his life sentence commuted, arguing that he
reported to the military judicial system on his own initiative when the bribery
case broke — a condition for an application for commutation of a sentence.
The ministry said the Taiwan High Court granted Kuo’s commutation request and
that since he had completed 20 years in prison, the ministry released him on
Dec. 3.
In May, the Taiwan High Court sentenced Kuo to 15 years in prison and deprived
him of his civil rights for 10 years on corruption charges relating to the
procurement of the Lafayette-class frigates. The verdict has been appealed to
the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court said yesterday that even if Kuo is found guilty in the
corruption case he would not need to serve another term, as he has already
served 20 years in prison — the maximum term under the Criminal Code.
In May’s ruling, Kuo, a former official in the navy’s weapons procurement
office, was convicted of accepting US$17 million in kickbacks from arms dealer
Andrew Wang (汪傳浦) to facilitate the deal.
The ruling said Wang and Kuo received a total of US$340 million from the deal.
The Special Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said
yesterday it had sent an English-language version of the Taiwan High Court’s
ruling to Switzerland seeking legal mutual assistance to return the US$340
million held there to Taiwan.
Taiwanese prosecutors have concluded that as much as US$700 million in bribes
may have been paid throughout the course of the Lafayette and Mirage jets
procurement deals.
Wang was a Taiwanese agent for French arms supplier Thompson-CSF. He fled Taiwan
10 days after the death of navy captain Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓), whose body was
found by local fishermen on Dec. 10, 1993, in waters off the east coast town of
Suao (蘇澳), Yilan County.
Prosecutors believe that Yin was poised to blow the whistle on his colleagues
who had received kickbacks from the Lafayette deal.
Wang is accused of murdering Yin and has been wanted by Taiwanese prosecutors
since September 2000.
Additional reporting by CNA
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