KMT Taipei councilor indicted over alleged assistant subsidy fraud

Taipei, July 17 (CNA) Taipei prosecutors on Friday indicted Kuomintang (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Lee Fu Chung-wu (李傅中武) and six others on corruption and document forgery charges over an alleged NT$9.77 million (US$306,000) assistant subsidy fraud scheme.

According to prosecutors, Lee Fu and his wife, who handled personnel and financial matters at his council office, allegedly used relatives and acquaintances as "ghost assistants" and inflated reported salaries to fraudulently claim government-funded assistant subsidies.

The investigation, launched in March, found that the couple allegedly registered three people as assistants even though they did not perform the work, allowing them to receive subsidies totaling about NT$5.76 million.

Prosecutors also accused the couple of overstating the salaries of two relatives listed as office staff.

The two were allegedly paid less than the salaries reported to the authorities, resulting in another NT$4 million in improperly claimed subsidies, prosecutors said.

Lee Fu and his wife were identified as the main suspects in the case, but prosecutors said they admitted wrongdoing during the investigation and returned the full amount of the alleged illegal gains.

Prosecutors therefore asked the court to consider reducing their sentences.

The seven defendants, including Lee Fu, his wife and several relatives, were charged with using an official position to obtain property under the Anti-Corruption Act and with falsifying documents.

Lee Fu, an Atayal who represents Taipei's Highland Indigenous constituency, has served on the Taipei City Council since 2010.

He worked as a police officer before entering politics.