Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-18
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A former chairman of the National Taiwan Science Education Center and a friend were sentenced to long prison terms Friday in a corruption scandal surrounding the center’s new home.

The new building is a major draw for tourists and students in the Taipei City district of Shihlin.

The center’s former director, Hsu Kuo-tu, was sentenced to seven years and six months and a close friend, Tung Su-chen, to eight years and six months for allegedly helping companies to reap illegal profits totaling NT$83.87 million (US$2.59 million).

An attorney who acted as the center’s adviser at the time, Chen Kai-sheng, can choose to pay a fine instead of serving two months in prison, reports said. Three business people received sentences ranging from one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half months, suspended for two years, and also replaceable by fines. They also had to pay the treasury separate sums ranging from NT$38,000 (US$1,100) to NT$65,000 (US$2,000), reports said.

One businessman was still on the run while other defendants were found not guilty in the case which spent six years working its way through the judicial system.     [FULL  STORY]