A contract worker at Taiwan's top military research institute has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for taking kickbacks on repair contracts, and the verdict is now final.

• A contractor at the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology took a kickback from a supplier on a machine repair deal.
• He worked as an information security officer in the missile and rocket division, handling equipment repairs and purchasing.
• He had the supplier pad the price of the contract and pocketed the difference.
• He denied wrongdoing, saying he simply picked the cheapest and fastest bidder, but the court rejected that.
• The appeals court in Taichung upheld the 10-month sentence and ordered the money seized, noting he never settled with the institute.

Outlook: The case is closed with no further appeal possible, and the institute faces fresh scrutiny over how it polices purchasing by contract staff.