Ex-legislative candidate given 8-month sentence for data crimes

Taipei, Aug. 8 (CNA) The Taoyuan District Court on Wednesday handed down an eight-month sentence to former independent legislative candidate Ma Chih-wei (馬治薇) for illegally selling information about Taiwanese government personnel to two Chinese individuals.

The court ruled that Ma had violated the Personal Data Protection Act by receiving money in exchange for "a large amount of personal contact information" she had collected.

The proceeds of the crime will also be confiscated in accordance with the law, according to the court.

In January, Ma was detained on suspicion of having received NT$1 million (US$30,837) in financial support from China to fund her election in exchange for political intelligence.

The Taoyuan District Prosecutors' Office then indicted Ma in March.

They recommended a 44-month prison sentence and NT$2 million fine for Ma for contravening the Anti-infiltration Act, National Security Act and Personal Data Protection Act.

The indictment alleged that the 40-year-old became acquainted with Chinese individuals "involved in Taiwan's affairs" during a trip to China in early April 2023, and the two sides discussed Ma providing political intelligence about Taiwan in exchange for funding from China.

Ma was a member of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) at the time, even though she was standing as an independent in Taoyuan City Constituency I in the January legislative elections. The TPP expelled her on Jan. 6, one day after she was detained.

Following a preliminary investigation, prosecutors alleged that Ma had received funds in U.S. dollars and Tether, a cryptocurrency.

The amount of cryptocurrency that Ma received was equivalent to roughly NT$1.05 million, prosecutors said.

In exchange for these payments, Ma gave her Chinese handlers nicknamed "Sister Bing" (冰姐) and "Ah-Hau" (阿浩) a list of contacts for central government agencies as well as business cards for personnel in national security, prosecutors said.

The court determined that Ma had illegal intent in doing so, and sentenced her to eight months in jail and ordered the confiscation of her illegal gains for violating the Personal Data Protection Act.

The court also ruled that there was no evidence to prove that Ma had breached national security laws since the information she gave to the Chinese individuals were not official, confidential documents.

The court said Ma was also acquitted of violating the Anti-Infiltration Act because there was a lack of evidence to prove "Sister Bing" and "Ah Hau" were affiliated with any foreign hostile force or other political organization.

The Taoyuan District Prosecutors' Office said it is considering filing an appeal against the ruling.