The Taipei District Court’s ruling against Hsinchu Mayor Anne Kao (高虹安) was regrettable and highlighted the lack of proportionality in the justice system’s meting out of punishments for similar crimes, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) said yesterday.
Kao was found guilty of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and sentenced to seven years and four months in prison for corruption that involved misuse of public funds.
She was also deprived of her civil rights for four years and suspended from her post as mayor. Article 78 of the Local Government Act (地方制度法) stipulates that a mayor of a special municipality found guilty of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act is to be suspended from office.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan People’s Party
Formerly an aide to business tycoon Terry Gou (郭台銘), Kao joined the TPP and served as a legislator at-large from 2020 to 2022 before running for Hsinchu mayor. She withdrew her party membership after the ruling was announced.
The presiding judge had chosen to recognize the validity of claims that Kao’s legislative assistants had inflated their monthly overtime, but did not recognize the validity of Kao’s claims that she had paid out-of-pocket many official business expenses with the sum exceeding the NT$116,514 (US$3,549) the court said she had embezzled, the TPP said in a statement.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) New Taipei City Councilor Chou Ya-ling (周雅玲) and her sister Chou Wen-ying (周雯瑛), who were indicted on similar charges involving the payrolls of legislative assistants and accused of embezzling NT$13.88 million, were sentenced to eight months and six months in prison respectively, suspended for three years, the TPP said.
Citing another case, the TPP said that former DPP legislator Chen Lai Su-mei (陳賴素美) was accused of embezzling NT$7.85 million in assistants’ funds, and was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for five years, on the grounds that “she had used most of the funds in service of the people and the disadvantaged, which is different from other cases wherein embezzlement served to benefit the self.”
Placed side by side, the ruling against Kao shows “the standards that the Taiwanese judiciary has on the principle of proportionality and the severity of sentences are highly disparate,” the TPP said.
The TPP added that Huang Hui-wen (黃惠玟), the former head of administrative affairs of Kao’s legislative office, had testified that she had only followed the same accounting methods that former DPP legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) used, but the court had made no progress on a separate investigation into the case since August last year.
The judiciary should not have double standards and should investigate the other case to uphold the integrity of the law, the TPP said.
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
The Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau audited six hotels in an effort to prevent price gouging ahead of Korean band BTS’ concert tour in the city scheduled for Nov. 19, 21 and 22 this year. The bureau on Friday said that the audits — conducted in response to allegations of unfair pricing posted on social media — found no wrongdoing. These establishments included the local branches of Chateau de Chine, Hotel Nikko, My Humble House, and Grand Hai Lai, it said, adding that the Consumer Protection Commission would have penalized price gougers had the accusations been substantiated. The bureau said the Tourism Development Act
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
BACK TO WINTER: A strong continental cold air mass would move south on Tuesday next week, bringing colder temperatures to northern and central Taiwan A tropical depression east of the Philippines could soon be upgraded to be the first tropical storm of this year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the next cold air mass is forecast to arrive on Monday next week. CWA forecaster Cheng Jie-ren (鄭傑仁) said the first tropical depression of this year is over waters east of the Philippines, about 1,867km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), and could strengthen into Tropical Storm Nokaen by early today. The system is moving slowly from northwest to north, and is expected to remain east of the Philippines with little chance of affecting Taiwan,
RSS