Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Chen E-jun (陳怡君) was indicted today for embezzling public funds used to pay for assistants.
The investigation concluded this morning, after prosecutors found that Chen and her assistant Chang Hui-lin (張惠霖) had claimed about NT$3.84 million (US$128,096) in fraudulent assistant fees.
The two used public funds for personal expenses such as paying rent and buying stocks, the Shilin District Prosecutors' Office said.
Photo: Taipei Times
The case has been transferred to Shilin District Court for trial, it added.
The court said it has received the case, which would be processed in due time, although a trial date has not yet been set.
Chen has served as a city councilor since Dec. 25, 2018, with Chang serving as her assistant and head of the city council research office since 2020, the indictment said.
The two allegedly forged employment contracts under the names of three of their relatives — Hung Yu-han (洪于涵), Ho Hsi (賀璽) and Chang Chia-jung (張家蓉) — to fraudulently claim assistant salaries, Lunar New Year bonuses and year-end bonuses, it said.
Chang Hui-lin allegedly transferred the funds from the three relatives’ accounts to that of an unsuspecting friend, surnamed Chu (朱), who was then instructed to issue checks to Chang Chia-jung, it said.
Chang Chia-jung then deposited the checks into bank accounts, used to pay Chen and Chang Hui-lin's rent and buy stocks, it added.
Chen, Chang Hui-lin and the three relatives have been indicted for embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds under the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), and falsification of official documents under Article 214 of the Criminal Code, prosecutors said.
Chen and Chang Hui-lin have also been indicted for forgery under Article 217 of the Criminal Code and for money laundering under the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), they added.
All criminal proceeds have been confiscated, they said, adding that Chen and Chang Hui-lin confessed to the allegations and voluntarily returned all illicit gains during the course of the investigation.
Under the Anti-Corruption Act, confession and return of proceeds can allow for a reduced sentence, which may be further reduced if the defendant also confesses in court, they said.
The three relatives also confessed that they did not serve as assistants and were not entitled to the assistant salaries, prosecutors said.
Moreover, as they possess clean criminal records, exhibited good behavior and did not financially benefit from the fraud, prosecutors said they may recommend lenient or suspended sentences should they confess in court.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS