Public prosecutors have initiated an investigation into allegations of wage fraud by Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Hsinchu mayoral candidate Ann Kao (高虹安), while officials at the Institute for Information Industry (III) are looking to sue Kao for breach of trust over alleged illegal transfer of patents to benefit a private company.
Controversy has continued to swirl around the TPP legislator, including allegations of plagiarism, misuse of III subsidies, working for another company while on the institute’s payroll and academic elitism.
The latest allegations came from her rival for the Hsinchu mayoral post — Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Hsinchu mayoral candidate Lin Keng-jen (林耕仁).
Photo: Hung Mei-hsiu, Taipei Times
Lin has accused Kao of wage fraud by hiring her “boyfriend,” surnamed Lee (李), as her legislative office assistant, but questions have been raised whether he really worked as an assistant as he had a regular job elsewhere.
Lin said he got his information from sources within the TPP, asking if Kao used Lee to set up a dummy account to defraud the government of wages.
“If this is the case, then Kao could be charged with corruption,” Lin added.
Lin and other KMT members also accused Kao of illegally transferring two III patents to Servtech Co, a Taipei-based software company that Kao said she cofounded.
The Servtech link led to questions whether Kao was illegally moonlighting while still on the III’s payroll.
Lin said Kao has refused to come clean and has shunned all requests for clarification about the disputes surrounding her.
“Kao is refusing to face the public. She refuses scrutiny by Hsinchu residents. She has degraded this mayoral race,” he said.
On Wednesday, Kao’s alleged boyfriend, who was later identified as Lee Chung-ting (李忠庭), also known as Jack Lee, released a statement.
Lee denied allegations of wage fraud and of setting up a dummy account.
He said he was hired to work for Kao and that he did all the tasks he was asked to do as an assistant, including handling her phone calls, which is why he had the same listed number as Kao.
As of yesterday, Kao and Lee separately said that they would file defamation lawsuits, accusing media outlets and talk show pundits of slander, disseminating false information to tarnish Kao’s reputation and having malicious intent to sabotage the election process.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau said that after receiving tipoffs, it has started an investigation into possible corruption and would in the coming weeks summon Kao’s office assistants and check her office’s wage receipts.
In addition, III vice president Hsiao Po-jen (蕭博仁) yesterday said that the institute is looking to file a breach-of-trust lawsuit against Kao and is gathering evidence.
He confirmed that Kao was still on the institute’s payroll during the time of the patent transfer to Servtech.
Separately, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who is the TPP’s chairman, yesterday confirmed reports that Lee had donated a total of NT$600,000 in 2020 and last year to the party.
“This is the standard quota for donating to the party, and all legislators must try to meet the target. The amount was the same as we had set at the time, so there is nothing unusual about this political donation,” Ko said.
Critics have said that NT$600,000 was a close equivalent of the annual wage of a legislator’s assistant, raising questions of whether the “dummy account” was set up for Kao to channel state subsidies into the TPP’s coffers.
Ko said the donation was legal and did not contravene any law.
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