Sex is again one of the culprits behind the maximum 17-year prison terms that 14 Taiwanese rail officials were meted, similar to the reasons why Wang Baoan, former head of China’s National Bureau of Statistics, was expelled from the Communist Party of China and being prosecuted for corruption.
South China Morning Post reported that of the 14 sentenced to prison, seven were Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) officials who were convicted and sentenced for receipt of perks as reward for helping companies get contracts for eight rail projects valued at more than NT$1.1 billion ($34.7 million) over the past six years.
The Taichung District Court convicted and sentenced the 14, led by Chung Chao-hsiung, former deputy head of the TRA. He got a 10-year, two-month sentence for accepting banquets and hostesses paid by the companies in exchange for favorable treatment. Cheng Wen-chung, a TRA official who went more than 100 times to hostess clubs, was given the heaviest sentence.
Chang Ching-tsai, TRA employee, was given a 15-year jail term for passing the quality checks the companies in exchange for sex services paid by the firms that got juicy contracts with TRA.
Besides the TRA officials, the court also convicted a construction broker and six businessmen up to five years in jail for bribing government officials. It is the biggest graft case to hit TRA.
While some TRA officials are busy lining their pockets from corrupt practices, its transport service crew is planning to hold a protest next week due to a twisted work schedule and worsening work environment. The train drivers are asking for a reasonable period of rest time, causing them to threaten to strike during the long holiday weekend in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival.