TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taipei City Councilor Chen Chung-wen (陳重文) was sentenced to nine years in jail Friday for a kickback on a cloud-based surveillance system for the city government.
The Taipei District Court also ruled that NT$5.31 million (US$162,000) in illegal profits should be confiscated. Six months of Chen’s prison term can be replaced by a fine and the verdict can be appealed, the Liberty Times reported.
The KMT politician used his office to pressure the city’s Department of Social Welfare to buy a surveillance system for nursing care homes, and then used a company run by him and a friend to pocket illegal profits totaling NT$3.21 million, prosecutors said. He was also accused Chen of setting up several companies under other names to avoid inspections.
A separate investigation is being conducted into allegations that Chen used similar tactics in a contract for surveillance cameras for the Taipei police and into unexplained sums of money in his possession. The three-term city councilor spent seven months and 10 days in detention before being charged in July.