Supreme Court Overturns Corruption Verdict for Yen Kuan-heng, Remands Case

Central News Agency, Taichung, May 28. KMT Legislator Yen Kuan-heng, accused of defrauding assistant salaries, had his second-instance conviction of 7 years and 10 months overturned by the Supreme Court today, with the case remanded to the Taichung High Court for retrial. Yen stated, "Justice is being restored," and that he sees an opportunity for the truth to be revealed. Yen was accused of defrauding assistant salaries through Lin Chin-fu, the head of a construction company. In the second instance, Yen was sentenced to 7 years and 10 months, and Lin to 7 years and 8 months. Yen stated in a written statement today that the judiciary should not become a tool for political struggle or a means for the ruling party to attack dissidents. Since he announced his candidacy for the 2024 legislative election on March 22, 2023, he was subjected to large-scale searches by prosecutors on March 28. The statement mentioned that during the investigation and trial, they provided evidence that Lin Chin-fu actually served as an assistant, which the prosecution and the original courts ignored. The team also hired several assistants at their own expense, and the actual salaries paid were far higher than the reported assistant fees, meaning there was no motive or necessity to defraud. Yen pointed out that the original courts refused to summon relevant witnesses, and many favorable pieces of evidence were not fully investigated. The Supreme Court's decision to remand the case proves that there are still many factual and legal issues to be clarified.