Refuse worker faces big penalty for corruption over rice cooker gift

Taipei, Sept. 18 (CNA) The indictment of a public sector recycling worker in Taipei on corruption charges for giving an elderly woman a discarded rice cooker valued at NT$32 (US$1) in July last year -- a case that could carry heavy penalties -- has prompted the judiciary to discuss sentencing practices for minor corruption offenses.

In a press release issued Wednesday, Taiwan's Supreme Prosecutors Office said it has instructed prosecutors nationwide to request that courts exempt defendants from punishment or grant a suspended sentence in cases similar to the one involving the recycling worker.

Taiwan's Ministry of Justice also commented on the case a few days earlier, saying it had proposed an amendment to Taiwan's Anti-Corruption Act, to allow reduced or waived sentences in minor cases.

That amendment is pending legislative review, after the Cabinet adopted it at a meeting last month, the ministry said.

Taipei prosecutors on June 17 filed corruption charges against Huang (黃), a member of the Taipei City Environmental Protection Department's sanitation team, after the case was referred by the department's Ethics Unit.

The charge carries a potential prison sentence of at least five years and a fine of up to NT$30 million, as it involves embezzlement of private property by a civil servant in the course of their duties.

Following the disclosure of the indictment by the Shilin District Prosecutors Office, the case has drawn widespread media attention, while Huang's supervisor in the sanitation team's office in Beitou District provided an explanation of the incident.

Chao Hsin-tsen (卓昕岑), who heads the office, said Huang admitted to taking the rice cooker and giving it to the elderly woman, stressing that he had no ill intentions and was only trying to help.