Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Dai-hua (林岱樺) and nine others were yesterday indicted on corruption charges for allegedly filing fraudulent claims for assistants’ salaries.
The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office accused Lin of using the names of relatives to embezzle NT$14.73 million (US$495,393 at the current exchange rate) of assistant wages, along with fraudulently claiming NT$220,000 for overtime work by assistants from 2011 to 2014.
Representing Kaohsiung’s fourth electoral district, Lin has won the seat five consecutive times since 2011. She had announced her intention to run in the DPP’s primary for Kaohsiung mayor and was widely viewed to be a front-runner, but the indictment could derail her bid, pundits said.
Photo: Taipei Times
The other nine people included Lin’s constituency office director surnamed Chou (周), a staff member surnamed Lien (連), an accountant surnamed Huang (黃) at Lin’s legislative office, along with Lin’s younger brother and his wife surnamed Wang (王), and adviser Hung Cheng-wei (洪正威).
Prosecutors accused Lin of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), misappropriating public funds and making false entries, while the other suspects allegedly aided in embezzling assistant wages and forging declarations to claim overtime pay.
Prosecutors also charged Hung, a Buddhist master at Kaohsiung’s Dongfa Temple (通法寺), with breach of trust and embezzling public donations. They alleged that while holding Buddhist teaching and ritual sessions, Hung sought donations from attendees and siphoned NT$5.91 million into a fund for Lin’s legislative office to pay assistants.
Lin issued a statement denying any wrongdoing, saying that all finances and accounting were handled by her father, Lin San-lang (林三郎), a former mayor of then-Fongshan City (鳳山), and that after he died in 2019, her elder sister, Lin Tai-jung (林岱融), took charge of the finances and accounting.
“I am innocent of the charges. My lawyer and I will present evidence in court to clear my name and acquit all members of my office’s team,” the statement said.
“Through all these years, I have held on my ethical principles and worked for the people of Kaohsiung,” she said.
“I believe in our justice system, and they will find the truth in the end. I will fully cooperate with the investigation to defend my reputation,” she added.
“I will survive this storm and will work and take action to prove that I am innocent of the charges,” it said.
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