2 researchers indicted for defrauding Academia Sinica of NT$34.8 million

Taipei, Sept. 4 (CNA) Two ex-Academia Sinica researchers were indicted for defrauding the institute of over NT$34.8 million (US$1.12 million) using fake documents and purchases, Shilin prosecutors said Thursday.

The prosecutors charged the researchers with fraud and 12 others with falsifying quotations and receipts, and asked for their illicit gains to be confiscated, the Shilin District Prosecutors Office said in a statement.

From 2019-2020, one of the researchers, surnamed Chang (張), bought equipment for his own tech company from 11 manufacturers, but had the purchases quoted as belonging to his Academia Sinica lab, prosecutors said.

He then instructed a fellow researcher and company shareholder, surnamed Chi (紀), to submit reimbursement claims to Academia Sinica, defrauding the institute of over NT$18.83 million, the statement said.

Prosecutors noted that in 2019, Chang's company won six Academia Sinica procurement bids worth over NT$15.89 million, but the institute never kept the items it paid for as Chi, who oversaw lab purchases, sent them back to Chang's firm after delivery and inspection.

In addition, from 2019-2021, Chang allegedly used Academia Sinica to dispose of his company's battery cell waste by passing it off as lab waste, costing the institute over NT$70,000, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors urged heavy sentences for Chang and Chi, citing the scale of the financial fraud, according to the statement.