A probe has been launched into embezzlement allegations made against opposition Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Kao Hung-an (高虹安), who is the TPP’s Hsinchu City mayoral candidate in the Nov. 26 local elections, according to prosecutors on Thursday.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said it recently received several reports about Kao taking advantage of her position as a legislator to overstate the salaries of her aides, while pocketing the excess for her personal use.
The Chinese-language Mirror Media magazine reported that Kao had overstated NT$600,000 (US$19,228) in salary payments to her aides from February to December 2020, including setting up shell accounts which she allegedly used to receive cash transfers from the central government to pay for what she declared as salary payments for her employees.
She has also been accused of using her former assistant and alleged boyfriend Lee Chung-ting (李忠庭) as a proxy for receiving what were supposed to be salary payments.
Kao has repeatedly denied the allegations and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who concurrently serves as the chairman of the TPP, has accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of using the “state apparatus” to attack Kao because of her potential threat to the DPP candidate in the Hsinchu mayoral race.
The allegations against Kao are being probed by the anti-corruption division under the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, which has filed the case under a category suggesting a lack of incriminating evidence.
If new evidence on possible graft surfaces, the incident could be recategorized, but even then, that would not necessarily constitute a crime or lead to an indictment, a source in the judiciary who asked not to be named told CNA.
A spokesperson for Kao’s campaign office speaking on condition of anonymity said Thursday that, to their knowledge, Kao and Lee were the persons named in the complaints.
Prosecutors have opened the case according to standard judicial procedure, which should not be interpreted as guilt, Kao’s campaign office said.
It has provided prosecutors with an abundance of evidence to rebut the allegations, the office said, calling on all parties not to attempt to influence voters’ decisions before the elections by making premature conclusions regarding the incident.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel