Lawmaker Kao Chin indicted in corruption case

Taipei, June 8 (CNA) Taipei prosecutors on Monday indicted independent Legislator Kao Chin Su-mei (高金素梅) and 23 others on corruption and fraud-related charges related to the embezzlement of public funds and imports of unapproved COVID-19 test kits from China.

Prosecutors with the Taipei District Prosecutors Office have recommended a prison sentence of more than 12 years and six months for the veteran lawmaker, who has served in the Legislature since 2002.

According to the office, Kao Chin, 60, fraudulently obtained more than NT$7.87 million (US$249,377) in public funds through false claims for legislative assistant salaries, overtime pay, bonuses and childcare subsidies.

Prosecutors alleged that Kao Chin knowingly registered several individuals, including her siblings, as publicly funded legislative assistants despite them not performing any actual duties, fraudulently collecting NT$7.71 million in assistant payments.

She was also accused of helping a staff member obtain NT$158,040 in childcare subsidies from the Bureau of Labor Insurance through false claims.

Prosecutors further alleged that during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, Kao Chin authorized her office director Chang Chun-chieh (張俊傑) to recruit "nominees" to exploit customs regulations allowing individuals to import up to 100 rapid test kits for personal use.

Using names collected by multiple local councilors, including one from Pingtung County, the group allegedly received 74,400 unapproved test kits for free from a manufacturer in Xiamen, China, circumventing medical device regulations, according to prosecutors.

Responding on Facebook, Kao Chin denied wrongdoing and said the rapid-test imports were intended to help Indigenous communities during a severe shortage of medical supplies.

She pledged to continue advocating for indigenous rights and overseeing government policies.

"The night will surely end," she wrote. "We will all be torch-bearers waiting for the dawn."

Chang faces a recommended sentence of more than 16 years.

Prosecutors also alleged that he used an Indigenous cultural association formerly founded by Kao Chin to fraudulently obtain NT$9.33 million in subsidies from government agencies and state-owned enterprises through inflated invoices and false documentation linked to Indigenous cultural events.

Prosecutors said Chang instructed uninformed staff to withdraw more than NT$4.36 million in proceeds and hand the cash to him in an effort to conceal the flow of funds.

Prosecutors also named Kao Chin's elder sister, younger brother, a former sister-in-law and several county councilors from Pingtung, Taitung and Hualien among the 24 defendants.

In explaining the recommended sentence, prosecutors said Kao Chin had served as a lawmaker for more than two decades yet abused public resources for personal gain, seriously undermining public trust in a representative democracy and the integrity of public officials.

They also cited what they described as her poor attitude following the investigation as grounds for seeking a heavier sentence.

Authorities are seeking confiscation of NT$5.85 million in alleged criminal proceeds linked to Kao Chin and NT$15.18 million linked to Chang, with NT$5.31 million to be confiscated jointly.

Prosecutors said approximately NT$16.02 million in Chang's bank accounts has already been frozen.

Chang has been held incommunicado for nearly four months. Prosecutors said he admitted only to alleged violations of the Company Act and Medical Devices Act, while denying the more serious allegations involving fraudulent assistant salary claims and subsidy fraud.

He is scheduled to be transferred to the Taipei District Court on Tuesday, where judges will decide whether to extend his detention pending trial.