TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Council of Agriculture (COA) will demand money back from electronics brand Acer Inc. after it said it found evidence of plagiarism against Taoyuan City Mayor Simon Chang (張善政), reports said Wednesday (Jan. 18).

Several candidates in last year’s Nov. 26 mayoral and county elections were accused of having committed plagiarism when writing past reports or university theses. Chang’s case involved allegations that he used materials from other sources without mentioning them in a NT$57.36 million (US$1.89 million) project funded by the COA in 2007-2009 when he served as vice president of Acer.

The COA said it formed a seven-member task force to investigate the allegations, while also inviting Acer and Chang to explain their position, the Liberty Times reported. The probe concluded that there were violations of the contract between the government department and the electronics firm, allowing it to ask for the return of funds it had spent on the research project.

The COA said it still had to calculate the amount of money involved but would inform Acer of the details after the Jan. 20-29 Lunar New Year holidays.

Chang, 68, worked at Acer and Google before entering politics, serving as premier and as the Kuomintang (KMT) vice-presidential candidate in 2020. He denied the allegations of plagiarism, and won the November mayoral election, taking office on Dec. 25.