CORRUPTION:
Twelve other people were convicted on charges of giving illegal benefits, forgery and money laundering, with sentences ranging from one to five years.
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By Wong Chun-chih and Jonathan Chin / Staff Reporter, with Staff Writer
The Yilan District Court yesterday found Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) guilty of corruption and sentenced her to 12 years and six months in prison.
The Yilan County Prosecutor’s Office indicted 10 government officials and five private individuals in 2022, including Lin, her daughter and a landowner.
Lin was accused of providing illegal favors estimated to be worth NT$2.4 million (US$73,213) in exchange for using a property to carry out activities related to the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Photo: Yu Ming-chin, Taipei Times
These favors include exempting some real estate and construction companies from land taxes and building code violations that would require the demolition of an illegal structure.
In addition, prosecutors accused Lin of being part of a NT$70 million money laundering scheme using an account she held in partnership with a farmers’ cooperative.
Lin was guilty of the crimes of granting unlawful benefits to another and having unexplained income under the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), and violating the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), according to the verdict.
She would serve a prison sentence, forfeit NT$32.5 million in illegal profits and be deprived of her civil rights for six years, the report said.
The court extended Lin’s prison sentence for undermining the credibility of elected officials, the verdict said.
Lin Yi-lin (林羿伶), the daughter of Lin Zi-miao, received a longer sentence for interfering with public office and usurping powers reserved for an elected official, the verdict said.
Twelve other defendants were convicted on charges related to illegal benefit giving, forgery and money laundering, with sentences ranging from one year to five years in prison, and deprivation of their civil rights, the report said.
Yilan Ministry of Economy Acting Director Huang Chih-liang (黃志良) was the only defendant not convicted of a crime.
Lin Zi-miao, who was in court to hear the verdict, told reporters that she was the victim of politically motivated persecution.
The Local Government Act (地方制度法) stipulates that mayors and district commissioners must be suspended after being convicted of corruption during their first trial.
The Ministry of Interior confirmed yesterday that Yilan County Deputy Commissioner Lin Mao-sheng (林茂盛) has accepted the position of acting county commissioner.
The ministry would not approve any application by convicted civil servants to receive lower wages, citing the government’s need to show no tolerance for corruption.
Lin Zi-miao said she would appeal the ruling.
The KMT said it regrets the court’s “unfair” ruling and would fully support Lin Zi-miao’s efforts to appeal her prison sentence.
Additional reporting by Lin Che-yuan