Police have arrested four officials from the Aboriginal Party on suspicion of stealing party funds.
The four suspects were detained at residences in Taipei on Wednesday night, according to a Criminal Investigation Bureau press release.
The bureau said that the four officials, Chang Chin-tang (
"We began our investigation into the four suspects after former party chairman Yisao Ludao (伊掃魯刀) contacted us," said Taipei Prosecutor Chang Shao-bin (張紹斌), who supervised the arrest on Wednesday.
"They took advantage of their positions in the party to kick out Yisao and steal the party's assets," he said.
Chang said the four suspects joined the party in 2002.
Chang Chin-tang immediately moved to have Yisao expelled, after which he was alleged to have asked all party members to have at least five other Aboriginal people join the party each week. For each person recruited, a NT$150 reward was paid, the investigation showed.
The prosecutor said that any party member who failed to recruit sufficient numbers of people was required to stand before Chang Chin-tang and receive a two-hour "lecture."
The party now has more than 40,000 members -- all Aboriginal -- across the country.
When Yisao established the party in 1990, the party had less than 100 members.
In addition to the pyramid-scheme method of expanding party membership, Chang Chin-tang is alleged to have asked members to make regular donations, ranging from NT$800 to NT$3,000.
He is said to have told them that consistent donations over a certain period would guarantee a reward from the party amounting to NT$3,000 every six months.
No members were rewarded.
"They actually pocketed all the money instead of returning it to their members as they promised," Chang Shao-bin said.
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