The head of a parent-teacher committee was charged yesterday with embezzling more than NT$10 million (US$300,000) in donations from parents whose children attend Guang Fu Elementary School in Taipei.
The money was donated by parents to be used to create a better environment for their children, including the hiring of cleaning staff to help prevent the spread of infectious disease and the hiring of extra security guards.
Fang Hui-ling (方惠齡) served as vice president of the parent-teacher committee from October 2005 to October 2006. She served as president of the committee from October 2006 through October last year.
Fang had incurred a large amount of debt by being a guarantor. She allegedly used the committee’s funds to pay off her debts.
Prosecutors said Fang embezzled NT$3.1 million from the committee’s internal funds, NT$4.69 million from funds allocated to hiring security guards and NT$2.27 million from funds allocated to hiring cleaning staff.
Her alleged embezzlement of the funds was discovered when her term as president ended and the new president discovered funds were missing. After Fang was unable to return the money she allegedly embezzled, she turned herself in to district prosecutors.
Prosecutors requested a five-year prison sentence, saying that because Fang failed to return the funds, the committee could not hire the security guards and cleaning staff for which the money was allocated, making it almost impossible for the students to see the improvements.
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