TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S high court on Thursday cleared an adviser to former president Chen Shui-bian of corruption charges in a scandal involving a billion-dollar (S$1.49 billion) subway project.
The court upheld a previous ruling which found Chen Che-nan not guilty of the charges due to a lack of evidence, an official said.
Mr Chen Che-nan was accused of accepting all-expenses paid trips to Thailand and South Korea from a recruitment firm in return for ensuring it won a lucrative contract for the project in southern Kaohsiung city.
The court also reversed the guilty verdicts against two managers of the recruitment firm on breach of trust charges due to insufficient evidence.
The firm had arranged the recruitment of workers from Thailand to construct the rapid transit system in Kaohsiung and earned nearly seven million Taiwan dollars from the project, officials said.
The scandal was revealed in August 2005 after some 300 Thai workers vandalised a construction site in the city and set fire to their canteen in protest at poor living conditions.
The incident led to the resignation of then labour minister Chen Chu and an apology by then president Chen for failing to supervise his adviser.
A presidential specialist with close ties to Mr Chen Che-nan was arrested early on Thursday for allegedly leaking state secrets to China. -- AFP
