Lieutenant General Chen You-wu, former head of the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and three other officers were found to have jointly inflated expenditures by 3.12 million Taiwan dollars (90,778 US), the court martial said in a verdict.

Chen was sentenced to seven years and six months in jail.

The other three officers -- identified as colonel Kao Tien-tsu, lieutenant-colonel Tung Chao-chieh, and lieutenant-colonel Li Hsiao-ming -- were jailed for three years and eight months each.

The defendants can appeal.

Chungshan Institute has developed a number of weapons includinng jet fighters, trainers, air defense and ship-to-ship missiles, naval electronic warfare systems, naval radars and artillerty fire-control.

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