A judicial probe of embezzlement at a New Taipei City private school has resulted in its board chairman being detained and questioned over accusations he embezzled NT$1.26 billion (US$40.6 million) of school funds.
Prosecutors conducted raids at four locations on Thursday, seizing evidence at the office of Kuo Chih-chao (郭志超), chairman of the board for Yu Tsai Elementary School in New Taipei City’s Yonghe District (永和).
Kuo and four other people were questioned regarding alleged embezzlement from the school, which is an upscale private elementary school that offers bilingual English and Chinese-language education.
Tuition costs NT$80,000 each six-month term, and additional fees are charged for busing, lunches, textbooks and specialized classes.
After questioning, Kuo was detained and held incommunicado yesterday, as the local court concurred with prosecutors that it was very likely that Kuo might flee to avoid prosecution or to destroy evidence.
Kuo, 74, has been accused of colluding with his wife, Hsu Hsiao-mei (徐小美), a school board member, and Hsu’s sister-in-law, Fu Miao-li (傅妙麗), to embezzle school funds from 2011 to last year.
Prosecutors suspect the three instructed the school’s accountants to divert money into their personal bank accounts in Taiwan, with the funds then transferred to overseas bank accounts in Switzerland, the US, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Over a four-year period, they allegedly embezzled a total of NT$1.26 billion from the school, which the three suspects used to invest in the stock market, pay for insurance and other personal expenses, prosecutors said.
“The money they embezzled came from tuition and various school fees paid by students and parents. The school coffers were like an ATM for them, used to withdraw funds whenever they pleased,” an official at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Prosecutors have yet to question Hsu and Fu, as they are abroad.
Two accountants at the school, surnamed Liao (廖) and Tsai (蔡), were released yesterday after posting bail of NT$30,000 and NT$110,000 respectively after being summoned for questioning.
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