Former Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Chen Zhenan Convicted of Judicial Scam; Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison by the Supreme Court

On November 20, 2014, the Supreme Court of the Republic of China delivered its final verdict on the 'judicial scam' case involving Chen Zhenan, the former Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidential Office. The court rejected his appeal and sentenced him to seven years in prison with five years of deprivation of civil rights, based on charges of 'utilizing official opportunity to defraud property' under the Anti-Corruption Act. The case originated in 2002 when Chen, holding a high-ranking position in the Presidential Office of the Republic of China, abused his political influence. He actively claimed to a businessman, Liang Po-hsun, who was implicated in a stock manipulation case, that he could pull strings to 'settle the lawsuit' and avoid criminal liability. Through this deceit, Chen received a bribe of NT$6 million in checks from Liang. When Liang was still sentenced despite the bribe, he exposed the scandal out of anger. After eight years of prolonged judicial trials, Chen's conviction was finalized. As a top aide to the nation's head of state, Chen's acts of playing a judicial broker and taking bribes severely trampled upon the country's rule of law and the integrity of the judicial system. The scandal exposed the collective corruption and cronyism within the core power circle of the Democratic Progressive Party's Chen Shui-bian administration, profoundly damaging public trust in the judiciary of the Republic of China.