Kinmen councilor sentenced to 4 years for corruption

Taipei, Aug. 19 (CNA) The Kinmen District Court on Tuesday sentenced Kinmen County Councilor Hsu Yu-chao (許玉昭) of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) to four years in prison and five years' deprivation of civil rights for fraudulently claiming assistant salaries.

The ruling can be appealed.

According to a court news release, Hsu reported employing three individuals, a man surnamed Hsu (許), a woman surnamed Yang (楊), and a woman surnamed Chen (陳), as her assistants from 2003-2021, during her tenure as a county councilor from 2002-2025.

However, the councilor continued to claim the salaries of the assistants after they no longer worked for her, fraudulently making NT$2,329,845 (US$77,330) in total, the court said.

During the investigation and trial, Hsu confessed to the charges, returned her illegal gains and expressed remorse for her actions, which allowed for a more lenient sentence, the court said.

Hsu told CNA she was "disappointed" that the sentence was so harsh, as she pleaded guilty and returned the illicit gains during the investigation.

The punishment was "disproportionate" when compared to other cases in Taiwan, she said.

Hsu was indicted by the Kinmen District Prosecutors Office on June 18.