Former Taichung Councilor Ran Ling-hsuan Sentenced to 4 Years for Embezzling Assistant Funds

(CNA reporter Lin Chang-shun, Taipei, July 16) Ran Ling-hsuan, a former Kuomintang-affiliated Taichung City Councilor, was charged with embezzling over NT$1.48 million in public assistant allowances and using public funds to conduct religious ceremonies for family blessings and clean private Buddhist altars. Both the first and second trials convicted her of corruption and sentenced her to four years in prison. Taiwan's Supreme Court rejected her appeal yesterday, finalizing the verdict. The prosecution has already been notified to activate flight prevention measures.

According to previous court rulings, Ran served as a third-term Taichung City Councilor from December 2018 to December 2022. She obtained a Lee family employee's bank account, ATM card, and password through a funeral services company operated by her husband, Chiu Yu-ming, and listed the non-employed Lee and a resigned but unreported Lin assistant as publicly funded assistants.

The ruling stated that Ran hired several individuals as public assistants at monthly salaries ranging from NT$10,000 to NT$45,000, but submitted falsified 'Taichung City Councilor Public Assistant Hiring and Change Forms' claiming they were paid between NT$25,000 and NT$70,000 monthly. She used these false documents to apply for subsidies and Lunar New Year bonuses, fraudulently obtaining a total of NT$1,489,971 in public assistant allowances.

The Taichung District Court ruled that Ran was guilty of conspiring to use her official position to fraudulently obtain property under the Anti-Corruption Act, sentencing her to four years in prison and two years of civil rights deprivation. Confiscated proceeds were seized. Chiu Yu-ming, though not a public official, was found guilty as an accomplice in the same crime and, as a repeat offender, sentenced to two years and four months in prison and one year of civil rights deprivation.

Both the prosecutor and Ran and Chiu appealed. The Taiwan High Court's Taichung Branch overturned the original ruling on the sentences but still sentenced Ran to four years in prison and three years of civil rights deprivation. Chiu was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison and two years of civil rights deprivation. The Supreme Court ruled that the second trial's factual findings and legal application were correct and the sentencing appropriate, rejecting the appeal on the 15th. The case is now final. (Editor: Hsiao Po-wen) 1150716

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