High Court appearance. (File photo)
The then detectives of the Taipei City Shilin Police Station, Zhong Yushan and Lai Youlin, were accused by the prosecutor of cooperating with their friends Chen Hongkai, an amateur female model surnamed He, and others in 2020 to "act in a show" to intimidate the victim surnamed Lin. The victim surnamed Lin alleged that the jade rough stone he wanted to sell was the stolen goods of a "lady" and deceived Lin into signing a promise to compensate 4 In the first instance, the New Taipei District Court sentenced Officer Zhong to 5 years and 6 months in prison, and 5 years and 4 months in prison, both of which were deprived of public power for 3 years, according to the Corruption Crimes Ordinance of the New Taipei District Court. The entire case remains open to appeal.
However, 1 man and 2 women who were not civil servants were still found guilty in the second trial. The mastermind Chen Hongkai was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in the first trial. The second trial reduced the sentence to 2 years and deprived him of his public rights for 2 years. The female college student surnamed He who played the role of "fake lady" and part-time female model was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in the first trial. Considering She pleaded guilty in full, and her sentence was reduced to one year and four months, and she was given a four-year suspended sentence. Chen Hongkai's mother, Huang Ruochun, who acted as the cover-up, was sentenced to three years in the first trial. Because of her guilty plea, her sentence was reduced to one year and three months, and she was given a four-year suspended sentence. Both women were deprived of public rights for one year. Another male accomplice, Lin Weiting, passed away during the first trial, and the New Taipei Court ruled that the prosecution would not be accepted.
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The reasons for the verdict have not yet been announced. The New Taipei District Prosecutor's Office alleged that the victim, Lin Nan, purchased a rough jadeite from Lin Weiting for NT$2 million at Chen Hongkai's New Taipei Zhonghe Studio. Chen and Lin learned that the other party had considerable financial resources, so they approached two police officers, Zhong and Lai, to plan and set up an extortion racket. He Nv pretended to be the owner of the jadeite rough. The two policemen said that Lin would be prosecuted for possession of stolen goods and threatened to extort compensation.
The incident occurred on June 29, 2020. On the pretext of introducing a noble lady to buy a rough jade stone for the victim surnamed Lin, Chen Nan asked Lin to bring the jade to the studio. After the noble lady He appeared, she pointed out that Lin's jade was stolen by her before and demanded compensation from Lin. Officers Lai and Zhong revealed their identities as police officers and said: "You have been involved in the crime of stolen goods, which has been committed for more than 3 years. You must find a way to deal with it." "If you do not reconcile, you will be taken to the police station for prosecution." Chen's mother, Huang Ruochun, was pretending to be private.
The victim mistakenly believed that the "lady" was indeed the owner and was afraid of being punished. He agreed to compensate and signed an agreement on the spot, promising to pay 4 million yuan on July 20 of the same year. Chen's mother also pretended to provide a bracelet to the lady for safekeeping to guarantee Lin's debt. Lin discovered something strange afterward and called the police to deal with it, but 4 million yuan was not paid.
The five people involved in the case all denied committing the crime during the first trial. The New Taipei District Court convicted all five people of being accomplices in attempted extortion of property. The fake noblewoman He Nu admitted the crime and only disputed the charge of accomplices in corruption, and received a reduced sentence. Each of the five people was sentenced to one and a half to five and a half years in prison.
After appeal, the High Court today reversed the verdict and acquitted two policemen, Lai and Zhong. Chen Hongkai's mother and son, He's daughter and three others were upheld the guilt and were punished as "non-civil servants and civil servants accomplices in attempted extortion of property by taking advantage of the situation." However, the sentences were reduced and the two women were given a suspended sentence. The entire case remains open to appeal.
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