The High Court’s Taichung branch today reduced the sentences of three people in a high-profile labor exploitation case involving Ugandan students who were allegedly lured to Taiwan under false pretenses and forced into work.
In the second trial in the case, the court reduced the sentences of the three to prison terms ranging from one year and six months to four years.
In 2019, Chung Chou University of Science and Technology, which has ceased operations, allegedly recruited 16 Ugandan students to work illegally and pocketed part of their salaries, prosecutors said.
Photo: Yan Hung-chun, Taipei Times
The school allegedly promised them generous scholarships and internships in the high-tech industry, but told them upon arrival that they were each NT$100,000 in debt and that they would have to pay it off while they were studying, they said.
The students allegedly worked up to 200 hours per month, while living in insufficiently equipped dorms and being given scant food, prosecutors said, adding that they were at one point forced to live off sugar water.
The students allegedly received less than NT$20,000 per month each and the promised scholarship payments were withheld, they said.
In 2022, 10 people were charged with breaching the Human Trafficking Prevention Act (人口販運防制法), the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and other criminal offenses over their alleged involvement in the illegal work scheme.
In the first trial, Chai Fang-wu (柴鈁武), director of the university’s Department of Student Affairs, was indicted for corruption, forgery and breaching the Employment Service Act (就業服務法) and the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法). Chai was sentenced to five years and six months in prison and fined NT$500,000.
Lan Su-ling (藍素鈴), director of the university’s Department of Continuing Education, who allegedly reached out to the owner of a Miaoli-based foreign worker brokerage firm surnamed Chen (陳) to collaborate on the scheme, was sentenced to five years in prison and fined NT$700,000. Chen was sentenced to two years in prison and fined NT$600,000.
The High Court’s Taichung branch today reduced Chai’s sentence to three years and six months, Lan’s to four years and Chen’s to one year and six months.
The ruling can be appealed.
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