A former Ministry of Labor official, fired for workplace bullying and charged with corruption, was on Tuesday ordered released from prison on NT$1 million (US$30,576) bail.
Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容) is prohibited from leaving the country and is required to reside at her current residence or a designated location while wearing an electronic monitoring device, the New Taipei City District Court said.
Hsieh, who has been detained and held incommunicado since December last year, was on Wednesday last week indicted by the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office on embezzlement and profiteering charges under the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), and for making unauthorized disclosures as a public official.
Prosecutors had sought to extend Hsieh’s detention, saying that she could try to flee the country, but the court denied the request, saying that the investigation was finished and Hsieh had admitted to her crimes.
Hsieh wept throughout the court proceedings.
According to her indictment, Hsieh leaked official information, steered government contracts to favored companies and used government funds to purchase holiday gift boxes for personal use while head of the New Taipei City office of the Workforce Development Agency in 2023 and last year.
The investigation of Hsieh for corruption followed the suicide of a 39-year-old civil servant from the agency, who allegedly killed themself due to workplace bullying by Hsieh, resulting in her dismissal on Nov. 20 last year.
The civil servant’s death, as well as widespread criticism of the Ministry of Labor’s handling of the matter, sparked public outrage that resulted in the resignation of then-minister of labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) on Nov. 21.
Although prosecutors initially investigated Hsieh for negligent homicide, they declined to press charges, concluding that there was “no legal causation” between the civil servant’s suicide and Hsieh’s management style.
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