Taipei City Councilor Chen E-jun (陳怡君) of the Democratic Progressive Party at a pre-trial hearing on Friday pleaded guilty to charges of corruption and fraudulently claiming subsidies.
Chen, 46, along with the head of her office, Chang Hui-lin (張惠霖), were taken from the Taipei Detention Center to the Shilin District Court, where they both pleaded guilty, and asked for leniency and to be released on bail after being detained since February.
“I plead guilty. I’m sorry,” Chen told the court.
Photo: CNA
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen and Chang on June 3, accusing them of fraudulently claiming subsidies by listing three family members or friends as Chen’s assistants, even though they did not actually work for her.
Prosecutors argued that the two improperly claimed NT$3.84 million (US$130,346) in subsidies since the city councilor first took office in late 2018, and that they used the money to pay rent, buy stocks or spend it on other personal items.
The two were also accused of taking bribes of more than NT$700,000 from two developers to expedite permits for construction or development projects between August 2023 and February this year.
Chen said that she and Chang claimed the subsidies to hire and pay assistants, and also to pay the rent and utilities of outside service offices and other obligations.
Activities organized by her office for which she received NT$20,000 to NT$30,000 in subsidies actually cost NT$150,000, she said.
She used half of her monthly salary as a city councilor to pay her mortgage, but she did not account for normal subsidies given to city councilors to cover expenses, she said.
Regarding the bribery charge, Chen told the court that she took the money and contacted civil servants about the development projects.
“Honestly, I didn’t think that much. I was not familiar with quid pro quo,” she told the court.
Chen’s legal counsel asked the court for a reduced sentence, as she admitted to the crimes and handed over the illegal gains.
Chang asked to be released from detention so she could go through documents and receipts to prove the money was not used for personal gain.
Her legal counsel asked the court to consider a reduced and suspended sentence.
The judge remanded the two to custody and said that the preparatory process for the trial had been concluded.
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