Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Hsinchu mayoral candidate Lin Keng-jen (林耕仁) yesterday accused Legislator Ann Kao (高虹安), the Taiwan People’s Party’s candidate for Hsinchu mayor, of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
Lin said that a person from Kao’s legislative office had provided documents showing that members of her staff deposited money into an office account, which Kao allegedly used for personal purchases.
The documents, which allegedly included receipts, recorded deposits ranging from NT$10,000 to NT$74,169, Lin said.
Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times
The staff, whose salaries are paid out of the legislature’s budget, allegedly deposited a total of NT$875,861 into the account from March 2020, shortly after Kao took office, to December 2020, he said.
The money was allegedly used to buy personal care and cosmetic products, train tickets, Japanese dolls, Kao’s book on Hon Hai founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), tickets to baseball games and meals, as well as to provide cash gifts to staff, he said.
Two expenses for NT$80,000 and NT$88,000 were noted as for an assistant whose initial is J, which were allegedly withdrawn by a staff member named Lee Chung-ting (李忠庭), he added.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Lin on Monday last week said that Kao had hired her reported boyfriend, who was later identified as Lee, as an office assistant.
Lin had said it was unclear whether Lee really worked as an assistant, as he apparently had a job somewhere else.
“Kao used the account as her own little treasury,” Lin said.
Kao’s office said that the funds came from staff members “who pay their own expenses out of consideration for the legislator’s workload.”
The fund covers food and beverages offered to guests, meals, gifts, snacks for office staff and other expenses paid for with “pooled funds” donated by office staff, it said.
When assistants are asked to buy food or necessities for Kao’s personal use, they seek reimbursement from the person in charge, who then applies for it with Kao, it said.
Regarding the withdrawals allegedly linked to Lee, it said that the money was used for decorating the office.
The decoration cost more than NT$500,000, NT$300,000 of which was paid for with subsidies from the legislature and the rest covered in advance by Lee, it said.
Lee only sought reimbursement of NT$168,000 and paid the rest out of his own pocket, it added.
Additional reporting by Huang Ching-hsuan
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS