Taipei city councilor pleads guilty in court to corruption charges

Taipei, July 25 (CNA) Taipei City Councilor Chen Yi-chung (陳怡君) of the Democratic Progressive Party pleaded guilty to charges of corruption and fraudulently claiming subsidies during her first appearance in court in pre-trial hearings Friday.

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, asked for leniency, and requested to be released on bail after being detained since February.

"I plead guilty. I'm sorry," Chen told the court.

The Shilin District Prosecutors Office indicted Chen and Chang on June 3, accusing them of fraudulently claiming subsidies by listing three of their family or friends as her assistants even though they did not actually work for her.

The prosecutors alleged the two improperly claimed NT$3.84 million (US$130,221) 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 uses.

The two were also accused of taking bribes of over NT$700,000 from two developers to expedite permits for construction or development projects between August 2023 and February 2025.

Chen said 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.

She also said that activities organized by her office for which she received NT$20,000 to NT$30,000 in subsidies actually cost NT$150,000 to organize.

According to Chen, 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.

As to the bribery charge, Chen admitted to taking the money and contacting 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, noting that the city councilor has 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 purposes. Her legal counsel asked the court to consider a reduced and suspended sentence.

The judge remanded the two to custody and declared that the preparatory process for the trial ended at the end of the court hearing Friday.