Taiwan New Taipei District Court has sentenced Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) New Taipei City Councilor Wang Shu-hui (???) to nine years in jail and revoked her right to vote for five years, after finding the councilor guilty of illegally pocketing more than NT$3 million (US$108,530) in government paid staff wages over an 11-year period.

Wang illegally appropriated NT$3.35 million since Dec. 25, 2010 by listing relatives as office staff to collect their wages and other government subsidies, the court said in a statement Thursday, adding that the sentence can be appealed.

During the first session of New Taipei City Council, held Dec. 25, 2010 to Dec. 24, 2014, Wang only paid partial salaries to her publicly funded assistant Lin Yung-lai (???) and held the bank accounts of her nieces Wang Shih-yuan (???) and Hsieh Ming-min (???) who were listed as assistants but did not actually work for her, the court said.

Lin instructed another of Wang Shu-hui's publicly funded assistants Wei Ke-Shu (???) to draft fake documents and submit them to New Taipei City Council, which enabled Wang Shu-hui to illegally pocket NT$520,000, the court said.

During the second and current third sessions of New Taipei City Council, beginning on Dec. 25, 2014, Wang Shu-hui illegally claimed NT$2.09 million and NT$730,000 in publicly-funded assistant and Lunar New Year allowances, respectively, the court said.

In her defense, Wang Shu-hui claimed Wang Shih-yuan and Hsieh Ming-min are her personal internet publicists responsible for collecting public opinion and online comments, but failed to show any evidence of their work, the court said.

Furthermore, Wang Shu-hui was the one who collected their publicly-funded allowances, which indicates that the bank accounts of Wang Shih-yuan and Hsieh Ming-min were dummy accounts, the court added.

The matter led the court to say in its verdict that despite Wang Shu-hui being a well-known public figure with a relatively high government salary, she still illegally claimed an additional NT$3.35 million by fraudulent means.

After stepping down as a lawmaker in 2008, Wang Shu-hui was elected as a New Taipei City councilor in 2010 and her grassroots work has been praised by local supporters, according to Taiwanese media.

She was sentenced to four and a half years, five years and another four years and six months, for a total of nine years, with her right to vote suspended for five years, the court said.

Meanwhile, accomplices Wang Shih-yuan, Hsieh Ming-min, Lin Yung-lai, and Wei Ke-Shu were all sentenced to two years in jail, the court said, adding that they can appeal.

Currently, the sentences of the accomplices are suspended for five years, but the four defendants have to pay a fine of NT$100,000, attend four sessions of legal education classes and their voting rights are suspended for one year, the court added.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel