Former Chiayi City Council deputy speaker Kuo Ming-pin (郭明賓), who in November was re-elected as a city councilor, could be stripped of his position, after the Chiayi District Court yesterday convicted him of vote-buying.
The court also annulled the election results for his district.
Kuo, previously of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), ran as an independent.
Prosecutors in December last year indicted Kuo, 59, on four counts of vote-buting during the Nov. 24 elections and set bail at NT$1 million (US$32,413 at the current exchange rate).
Investigators found that Kuo gave money to a man surnamed Chiu (邱), 67, and a woman surnamed Tung (董), 71, during his campaign and instructed them to distribute the cash to residents in exchange for their votes.
Kuo also allegedly gave similar instructions to the chairman and deputy chairman of an association of a large apartment complex.
Chiu gave NT$1,000 each to 25 residents, but one of them refused to vote for Kuo and rejected the money, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors confiscated Chiu’s mobile phone and found the conversations he had with Kuo on the Line messaging app.
In one message, Kuo wrote: “You have to be very careful with this,” which was presented to the court as evidence of vote-buying.
“We conducted a detailed investigation and have sufficient evidence to show that Kuo was buying votes from eligible voters in exchange for cash. He admitted to doing so and we expected the court to convict him,” Chiayi City head prosecutor Tsai Ying-chun (蔡英俊) said.
As Kuo was convicted for contravening the provisions governing vote-buying and election irregularities stated in the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), he could lose his seat, which would be filled by the candidate who came in second in Kuo’s constituency, Tsai said.
However, it was the first ruling in the case and Kuo has 20 days to file an appeal.
An elected representative can only lose their seat when convicted in a final verdict and have no avenue to appeal.
Kuo had been a KMT stalwart in Chiayi’s political scene, serving as city councilor for five terms since 1989.
Kuo served as council deputy speaker from 2014-2018, while the KMT’s Hsiao Shu-li (蕭淑麗) served as council speaker.
In November last year, while still under investigation for vote-buying, Kuo sparked controversy by traveling to China, leading to accusations that he was trying to evade prosecution.
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