11 connected to KMT indicted in Tainan over forged recall signatures

Taipei, May 8 (CNA) Eleven individuals linked to the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's main opposition party, were indicted in Tainan on Thursday for allegedly forging names on recall vote petitions targeting two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers, according to the Tainan District Prosecutors Office.

Prosecutors said the suspects, including Chuang Chan-kuei (莊占魁), the deputy head of the KMT's Tainan branch, aimed to collect 3,000 petition signatures each for DPP lawmakers Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) and Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) within a 10-day period in January, but resorted to fabricating large portions of the lists.

A total of 3,613 false entries were uncovered across both petitions -- including 130 from deceased individuals -- that were intended to trigger recall votes according to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act, prosecutors said.

The suspects were charged with forgery offenses under Articles 210 and 216 of Taiwan's Criminal Code, and for the illegal use of personal information under Article 41 of the Personal Data Protection Act.

The forged names were allegedly copied from KMT party membership rosters accessed either via government computers or from printed lists, then written out by party officials, staff and their acquaintances before they were submitted to the Central Election Commission (CEC).

Among the 11 suspects, branch director Lin (林) and branch director-general Huang (黃) offered payments of NT$2-3 per entry to helpers, producing several hundred forged entries through these arrangements, prosecutors allege.

Nine KMT members with high-level roles in the party's Tainan branch -- identified by their surnames Hung (洪), Liu (劉), Shih (施), Wang (王) and Chen (陳) -- were indicted alongside lead petitioner Hu (胡) and another person also surnamed Lin (林), the office said.

Authorities searched KMT offices on March 20 and detained both Chuang and Liu the next day. Liu later confessed and was released, while Chuang remains in custody awaiting trial.

In addition to the 11 suspects indicted on Thursday, another 37 individuals deemed to have lesser roles in the suspected illegal operation were granted deferred prosecution after admitting their involvement, with conditions including legal education and fines ranging from NT$10,000 to NT$100,000.

The investigation in Tainan is one of several judicial actions currently taking place across Taiwan over alleged recall vote campaign irregularities, with KMT members and party-associated activists accused of forging signatures in Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, Taichung, Kaohsiung and elsewhere.