Taipei prosecutors listed Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator and Hsinchu mayor-elect Ann Kao (高虹安) as a suspect in an ongoing corruption investigation into alleged wage fraud and embezzlement of public funds, after she and five office staffers were taken in for questioning yesterday.
Kao was released on bail of NT$600,000 (US$19,538) yesterday morning, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said.
She and her boyfriend, Lee Chung-ting (李忠庭), had on Thursday been summoned from Hsinchu to Taipei for questioning by judicial investigators and prosecutors.
Photo: Tsung Chang-chin, Taipei Times
Current and former office staffers were also summoned for questioning, as prosecutors coordinated Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau units to search Kao’s legislative office, her residence in Taipei and other locations.
After questioning, prosecutors granted bail to Kao’s legislative office director Chen Huan-yu (陳奐宇) and her aide Wang Yu-wen (王郁文), each at NT$100,000.
Taipei prosecutors said the case had been coded “chen” (偵字案), meaning it is a case in which the Criminal Code might have been contravened.
Photo: Tsung Chang-chin, Taipei Times
Lee and the office’s head of administration Huang Lin-hui (黃鈴惠) were released without bail, but listed as witnesses and persons of interest in the case.
Whistle-blowers included former staffers at Kao’s legislative office who had presented materials and filed complaints at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
They said that Kao had engaged in wage fraud and embezzlement through payroll deductions funneled into an “office fund,” while assistants’ wages were “contributed” to TPP coffers.
Photo: CNA
In computer records accessed by the whistle-blowers and presented to prosecutors, Kao allegedly told office staffers to “donate portions of their monthly wages” to an office fund, which was used to pay for Kao’s personal expenses.
Contributors included Chen and Wang, former deputy office director Chen Yu-kai (陳昱愷), and office assistants Huang Hui-wen (黃惠玟) and Wu Ta-wei (吳達偉), each allegedly “donating” NT$20,000 to NT$303,000.
Wu said he once received no wage after being asked to “donate” his NT$50,000 monthly salary to the fund.
TPP officials yesterday released a statement urging Taipei prosecutors to uphold judicial independence, and not to be influenced by rumors.
“We also ask for certain political camps to stop using the media to set the agenda during the investigation. Political manipulation at this time will harm Taiwan’s democratic development,” it said.
“We have seen lawmakers, councilors and pundits making up false accusations to mislead the public, and this has led people to doubt the fairness and independence of the justice system,” the statement said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said it looked like the justice system was going after Kao because she won the Hsinchu mayoral race, defeating Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Shen Hui-hung (沈慧虹).
DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) rejected the allegation, saying that “if they had taken action before the elections, it would have resulted in much controversy and political wrangling ... they have to investigate because the presented evidence points to the likelihood of legal contraventions.”
The “judiciary should be permitted to do its job,” DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said, adding that “the accused people have rights, too, and it is not possible for politics to interfere in the investigation.”
“We should wait to see the competency of judicial investigators, for them to examine the evidence and release the defendants if they are not guilty,” Lin said.
However, “if they have broken the law, then they should go through the judicial process for indictment,” he added.
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