Taipei Times
Date: Jun 24, 2015
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter
Former navy captain Kuo Li-heng (郭力恆), who played a prominent role in the
Former navy captain Kuo Li-heng, center, yesterday declines to respond to reporters’ questions after being released from Taichung Prison. Photo: CNA
Lafayette frigate scandal, was released from jail yesterday, after serving his latest six-month term in lieu of paying a court-imposed fine of NT$200 million (US$6.45 million).
Kuo was found guilty of accepting NT$1.1 billion in kickbacks for brokering the deal, together with arms dealer Andrew Wang (汪傳浦), for the navy’s purchase of six Lafayette-class frigates from France in the early 1990s.
At least a dozen Taiwanese and French nationals associated with the case have since died in suspicious circumstances, including captain Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓), the navy official in charge of the procurement case.
A Taiwan High Court ruling in December last year upheld an earlier decision sentencing Kuo to 15 years in prison and a fine of NT$200 million for his role in the procurement scandal.
