The Agency Against Corruption’s fund for tips about allegedly corrupt officials ran up NT$30 million (US$972,100) in debt in the first quarter of the year, officials said.
The agency, established in 2011, paid rewards totaling NT$13 million out of an allocated NT$15 million in its inaugural year, records show.
In 2013, the agency budgeted NT$12 million, but generated a deficit of NT$2.9 million after disbursing rewards, the agency said.
Last year, its deficit was NT$320,000, it added.
With NT$9 million due within the first quarter of this year, the agency said it has exhausted its annual reward budget and is NT$30 million in deficit.
Agency officials said that under the Regulations on Rewarding and Protecting Informants on Corruption and Malfeasance (獎勵保護檢舉貪污瀆職辦法), if corruption is determined in the first trial, informants are entitled to one-third of the total reward money, adding that the rest of the reward money would be given after a case is closed.
Sources also said that unwritten rules in government organizations push budgets lower every year, causing the quandary of the agency owing money to more people, but having diminishing funds.
The agency said it has received several calls from informants asking about their payouts after first-trial rulings or conclusions in cases they referred.
To avoid curbing public enthusiasm for reporting potential corruption, the agency has asked the Ministry of Justice to seek reserve funds and pay off its debts.
Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang (陳明堂) said the ministry would apply for reserve funds from the Executive Yuan, adding that tipsters should not be afraid of not being rewarded, although the funds would take some time to be paid out.
Informants are entitled to rewards ranging from NT$300,000 to NT$800,000 if convicts in cases they referred are sentenced to less than one year in prison or the equivalent in fines, while those whose tips lead to sentences of 15 years or more, life imprisonment or death penalties are eligible to receive from NT$6.7 million to NT$10 million, the agency said.
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
A New York-based NGO has launched a global initiative to rename the nation’s overseas missions, most of which operate under the name "Taipei," to "Taiwan Representative Office (TRO)," according to a news release. Ming Chiang (江明信), CEO of Hello Taiwan, announced the campaign at a news conference in Berlin on Monday, coinciding with the World Forum held from Monday through Wednesday, the institution stated in the release. Speaking at the event, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷) said she believed this renaming campaign would enable the international community to see Taiwan
DEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads
TOO DANGEROUS: The families agreed to suspend crewed recovery efforts that could put rescuers in danger from volcanic gases and unstable terrain The bodies of two Taiwanese tourists and a Japanese pilot have been located inside a volcanic crater, Japanese authorities said yesterday, nearly a month after a sightseeing helicopter crashed during a flight over southwestern Japan. Drone footage taken at the site showed three bodies near the wreckage of the aircraft inside a crater on Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, police and fire officials said. The helicopter went missing on Jan. 20 and was later found on a steep slope inside the Nakadake No. 1 Crater, about 50m below the rim. Authorities said that conditions at the site made survival highly unlikely, and ruled
RSS