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TAIPEI - Taiwan's High Court has sentenced a former vice interior minister to 12 years and eight months in prison for corruption in the latest in a string of high-profile graft scandals, a court official said Thursday.
The court Wednesday upheld a ruling by a district court which found Yen Wan-chin guilty of taking a bribe of 1.2 million Taiwan dollars (39,500 US) in connection with a cable car construction project in suburban Taipei in 2006 during his term, the official said.
But it reduced his prison term from 15 years to 12 years and eight months.
Yen, who served under former president Chen Shui-bian, was also convicted of illegally claiming 130,000 Taiwan dollars in expenses from the Taiwan Stock Exchange and of pocketing five million dollars in donations to then ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Yen was once the DPP's deputy secretary general.
The case is the latest of a series of corruption scandals implicating top officials in the former DPP government.
Five former DPP ministers, including ex-justice minister Morley Shih and former education minister Tu Cheng-sheng, were indicted on graft charges earlier this week.
They were accused of illegally claiming expenses.
The biggest graft scandal involves former president Chen and his wife Wu Shu-chen, who is on trial for corruption and forgery after allegedly embezzling 14.8 million Taiwan dollars from state funds.
Chen was also named a suspect in 2006 but escaped immediate prosecution because of presidential immunity. But prosecutors launched a corruption probe against him after he left office in May to be succeeded by Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang.
Chen's son-in-law Chao Chien-ming is appealing a seven-year jail term and a fine of 30 million Taiwan dollars for insider trading.
- AFP /os
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