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FORMER NAVY CHIEF ACQUITTED OF SHIELDING CORRUPT SUBORDINATES

2004-04-20 22:03:16

    Taipei, April 20 (CNA) The former commander-in-chief of the navy, retired Adm. Yeh Chang-tung, who was indicted for smothering a case of corruption on the part of two junior officers during his term as navy chief, was acquitted Tuesday of the charge of shielding corrupt subordinates.

    The Taipei District Court ruled that Yeh did not bring the two junior officers to justice because their trial, even in a military court at that time, would have exposed the navy's secret purchase of four minesweepers from Germany and might have spoiled the whole deal to the detriment of the country.

    Furthermore, the judgment said, a military prosecutors' investigation at that time concluded that the behavior of the two junior officers did not constitute a crime and therefore, the admiral's decision to discipline the two and force them to retire was not unreasonable.

    The charge against one of the two junior officers in the case, retired Commander Yuan Yu-fan, was thrown out because he was still a naval officer when he committed the alleged crime and was under investigation by the navy. Therefore, he is beyond the jurisdiction of the civilian courts, according to the judgment of the Taipei District Court.

    The other officer, retired Lieutenant Commander Peng Chi-kang, was acquitted on a charge of corruption on the grounds that he had "no idea" that 2,600 German marks he shared with Yuan were illegal gains.

    The case arose from the navy's purchase of four minesweepers from Germany in 1986.

    As an officer involved in the deal, Yuan embezzled some 7,000 marks between 1991 and 1992 and gave 1,300 marks to Peng, who helped him withdraw the money from a British bank.

    Yeh was indicted in 2001 for covering up for Yuan and Peng.

    However, the case was only a sideshow in prosecutors' search for alleged kickbacks involved in the country's purchase of six Lafayette-class frigates from France in 1991.

    In that case, the alleged kickbacks have remained elusive, despite a four-year investigation.

(By Maubo Chang)

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