Former Hualien Education Director Sentenced to 9 Months for Leaking Procurement Secrets

(Central News Agency, Taipei, June 5) Lee Yu-ren, the former director of the Hualien County Government's Education Department, and others were involved in a procurement scandal. The first instance court sentenced Lee to 10 years and 6 months for bribery and 6 months for leaking secrets. The second instance court overturned the bribery conviction and sentenced him to a combined 9 months for two counts of leaking secrets, which can be commuted to a fine. The Supreme Court recently rejected the appeal, finalizing the verdict.

According to the first instance verdict from the Hualien District Court, while serving as Deputy Director of the Hualien County Government's Education Department in 2018, Lee secured subsidies from the Sports Administration of the Ministry of Education. He then instructed the subordinate Hualien County Stadium to handle the procurement for the "Hualien County Baseball Stadium Design Project" and the "Hualien County Baseball Stadium Renovation Project." He also instructed the Hualien County Sports High School to handle the procurement for the "Hualien Liyu Lake Water Sports Training Base Construction Project Entrusted Design and Supervision Technical Service Project."

According to the verdict, Lee, fully aware of the Government Procurement Act, conspired with Wang Chin-te, then chairman of the Hualien County Sports Association, and others. They leaked electronic files of the relevant project tenders to interested bidders. Subsequently, Lee accepted a bribe of NT$81,500 from the winning bidder and facilitated an illegal profit of NT$300,000 for the company.

The first instance court sentenced Lee to 10 years and 6 months for accepting bribes in violation of his duties, with a 5-year deprivation of civil rights, and 6 months for a public servant leaking secrets not related to national defense, which could be commuted to a fine. Wang and the intermediary Chen Chin-yuan were each sentenced to 7 years and 7 years and 2 months respectively for jointly accepting bribes, with a 4-year deprivation of civil rights, and 4 months for jointly leaking secrets, which could be commuted to a fine.

Both the prosecutor and the defendants appealed. The second instance, handled by the Taiwan High Court's Hualien Branch, overturned the original verdict in December 2023. It sentenced Lee to a combined 9 months for two counts of leaking secrets, Chen to a combined 7 months for two counts, and Wang to 5 months for one count. All sentences could be commuted to a fine at a rate of NT$1,000 per day.

The second instance court found no evidence that Lee shared the money Wang received. The court noted that the contractor paid Wang for help with post-award issues, not at Lee's behest. It concluded there was no connection between the money Wang received and Lee's official duties, and no evidence that Lee demanded, solicited, or accepted a bribe.

The verdict also stated that for the Liyu Lake design project, the sports high school independently handled all aspects, including the tender period, award method, review committee, and specifications. Lee and others did not provide instructions or recommend any specific company. Even if Lee had actively leaked secrets, the court found no causal link between his actions and the contractor's private interest in winning the design project, thus the charge of illegal profit-making could not be sustained.

The prosecutor appealed to the Supreme Court, which reviewed the case and found no errors in the second instance court's application of law or fact-finding, and deemed the sentence appropriate. The Supreme Court rejected the appeal yesterday, finalizing the case. (Editor: Chang Ming-kun) 1150605