CNA file photo

Taipei, Dec. 7 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court Thursday upheld a 10-year jail sentence for former New Taipei Deputy Mayor Hsu Chih-chien (許志堅) for corruption, rejecting an appeal.

His son Hsu Shih-yun (許士耘) and brother Hsu Chih-yuan (許志遠) were sentenced to three months in prison for forgery, commutable to fines of NT$1,000 (US$33) per day.

Meanwhile, the court ruled that a payment of NT$1.14 million Hsu gave to his father and luxury watches he gave to his daughter are considered illegal gains and should be confiscated.

The case can still be appealed.

Hsu was convicted of taking bribes of about NT$6.16 million in cash and gifts from a property development company between 2011 and 2015 in return for expediting the approval and review process of an urban renewal project in New Taipei's Xindian District.

In March, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and deprivation of his civil rights for five years by the Taipei District Court.

During his term as deputy mayor from Dec. 25, 2010 to June 30, 2014, Hsu served concurrently as chairman of New Taipei's urban renewal project screening committee and as deputy chairman of the city's urban planning committee.

(By Hsiao Po-wen and Evelyn Kao)
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