TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Hsinchu Mayor Kao Hung-an (高虹安) from the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) was convicted of corruption at Taipei District Court on Friday (July 26).
The court sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, barred her from running for public office for four years, and suspended her mayoral duties. The case can be appealed.
The Taipei Prosecutor’s Office (TPO) also charged Kao’s former assistant Huang Hui-wen (黃惠玟), former legal team director Chen Yu-kai (陳昱愷), former office director Chen Huan-yu (陳奐宇), and former public relations director Wang Yu-wen (王郁文) with forgery, per CNA. During the trial, Kao and Wang pleaded not guilty, while Huang, Chen, and Chen admitted guilt.
According to the TPO’s indictment, Kao instructed her assistant Huang Hui-wen to falsify expense reports when claiming subsidies. Huang was allegedly directed to give the difference to Kao for personal use.
Kao claimed during the trial that she was following Huang’s suggestion, which had been used previously during her tenure under former Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋), per SET News. Huang asserted that Kao shifted the responsibility to her assistants once the scheme was exposed.
Chen Huan-yu testified that Kao had asked him to delete all communication records from his cell phone or destroy the phone. He also said another female assistant was instructed to delete accounting records from her computer or destroy the machine.
The prosecution said this case marks the first time the court has ruled on the legality of the assistant subsidy scheme and hopes the decision will stop such practices.
At one point in the trial, Kao accused the prosecutor of concealing a 16-minute recording from the interrogation. Wang alleged political motives behind the prosecution and supported Kao’s claim about the missing 16 minutes, asserting that the recording included attempts to coerce Wang into admitting guilt.