Chang Ching-lai, a worker at the Taipei City Government Department of Environmental Protection’s Xinyi District sanitation team, used a loophole in the overtime registration procedure to misreport the amount of overtime worked by employees in order to embezzle NT$19,460,000 over a period of six years. Chang spent almost all the money on points for online games and other online purchases. On Jan. 5, the Taipei District Court handed down a heavy sentence to Chang of 12 years imprisonment for corruption offenses and ordered the confiscation and recovery of the NT$19,460,000. The case may yet be referred to the court of appeal.
The court’s verdict states that 50-year-old Chang was responsible for declaring overtime to the Department of Environmental Protection for all members of the Xinyi District sanitation team in addition to managing the bank accounts into which their salaries are paid. The verdict further states that, having received the allotted funds from the department, Chang would then distribute the money to the members of the team. With the power to register overtime and hand out payments concentrated in one pair of hands, the district team leader comprehensively delegated authority to Chang, yet neglected to provide adequate supervision. Internal checks were ineffective, and this lead to the defendant being able to carry out his crime for over six years without being found out. The situation carried on until Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je assumed office and carried out a full investigation into the problem of excessive overtime pay within the Taipei City Government, after which Chang was exposed.
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
Photo: Yeh Kuan-yu, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者葉冠妤
北市府環保局信義區隊清潔隊員張慶來,利用申報加班費的程序漏洞,六年虛報隊員加班時數詐領一千九百四十六萬元,全數拿來購買遊戲點數和網路購物花用殆盡,台北地院一月五號依貪污罪將他重判十二年,追繳沒收一千九百四十六萬元。本案可上訴。
判決指出,五十歲張慶來負責替信義區隊旗下全部隊員向環保局申報每月加班費,還負責管理信義區隊在銀行的薪資帳戶,收到環保局撥款後再撥付給隊員,一手掌握申報、出納,區隊長充分授權他卻輕於監督,內控失靈,以致張男犯案長達六年多仍無人知悉,直到柯市府上台後,全面檢討加班費浮濫的問題,才被揭發。
(自由時報記者張文川)
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