Military Officer Sentenced to 15 Years for Illegally Renting State Land, Profiting Over NT$10 Million

(CNA Reporter Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei, 18th) Li Zhen-yu, a former officer of the Army's Sixth Corps, was suspected of forging documents such as land lease contracts to privately rent out state-owned land managed by the military to multiple vendors, fraudulently obtaining over ten million NT dollars. The first and second trials both sentenced him to 15 years in prison and deprived him of his civil rights for 3 years. The Supreme Court recently rejected his appeal, finalizing the sentence. According to the rulings of previous trials, Li Zhen-yu served as a Captain and Engineering Officer in the Military Dependents Service Section of the Sixth Army Corps Command from April 1, 2015, to February 13, 2020. He was responsible for patrolling and managing lands of military dependents' villages, clearing unauthorized occupations, demolishing structures, setting up fences, and handling small-scale engineering procurement. He exploited his official duties to defraud. Pretending to handle affairs related to the dependents' land, Li forged the official seals of the "Chief Staff Officer of the Sixth Corps' Comptroller Office" and the "Finance Officer of the Sixth Corps' Comptroller Office." From 2017 to 2020, he privately rented out state-owned dependents' land managed by the military to several companies, defrauding a total of over NT$10.03 million. After being questioned by the Inspector's Office for this case in 2020, Li was dismissed from his post on February 13 of the same year. He left the country for the Philippines on March 8 of the same year and was not repatriated to Taiwan until March 2025. He was then transferred to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office for the case. After further questioning, prosecutors applied for his detention, and the Taoyuan District Court ordered his detention, citing the risk of flight. During the first trial at the Taoyuan District Court, Li Zhen-yu confessed to his crimes. In October 2025, the court sentenced him to a total of 15 years in prison and deprived him of his civil rights for 3 years for 14 counts of fraud by taking advantage of his position, in violation of the Anti-Corruption Act. The case was appealed to the second instance, heard by the Taiwan High Court. The High Court, considering that Li failed to reach a settlement with the victims and other circumstances, found the first-instance sentencing appropriate and rejected the appeal in March of this year. The entire case was appealed to the third instance. After review, the Supreme Court found no errors in the fact-finding and application of law in the second-instance judgment and considered the sentencing appropriate. The appeal was rejected on the 14th, and the case is now final. (Editor: Hsiao Po-wen) 1150518