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Two expenses for NT$80,000 and NT$88,000 were noted as for an assistant whose initial is J, which were allegedly withdrawn by a staff member named Lee Chung-ting (李忠庭), he added.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
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