Eric Chiang (蔣昌成), a former official at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington, has been indicted on suspicion of illegally taking housing subsidies.
Accusing Chiang of taking US$71,952 in housing subsidies, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office charged him with fraud and forgery on Friday.
Prosecutors said Chiang bought a house in the US state of Maryland in 1998 while serving as director-general of TECRO’s information division.
TECRO staffers with no house receive housing subsidies of US$2,500 per month. The figure is US$800 for those with a home.
Chiang collected the full subsidy from September 1998 to September 2002 while serving in Washington, receiving a total of US$71,952.
Chiang reported himself to the Government Information Office (GIO) last November concerning the irregularity, and then returned the US$71,952 to the treasury.
The GIO has since suspended him and sent his case to the Control Yuan for investigation.
In the indictment, prosecutors recommended that the Taipei District Court give Chiang a lighter sentence for reporting his irregularity to the government.
This was the second case of its kind this month. Last week, former Presidential Office press relations director Tsai Chung-li (蔡仲禮) was sentenced to 10 months in prison for collecting a full housing subsidy while serving in Washington from 2005 to 2008 despite owning a house in Maryland.
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