Former Kaohsiung City Speaker Tseng Li-yen Implicated in Corruption; Travel Restrictions Extended from May 25th

Taiwan's High Court Kaohsiung Branch Criminal Ruling stated that based on the declared sentence, Tseng Li-yen objectively still has motives to flee the country or sea out of fear of guilt; additionally, during the trial, the defendant stated that she and her spouse have substantial financial resources and she has served as a city councilor for several terms with extensive connections, thus it can be determined that she has the ability to stay abroad long-term. Based on public interest considerations of national judicial and penal execution rights, and the principle of proportionality, it is determined that there is a necessity to extend the restrictions on leaving the country and sea, and thus it was ruled to extend the restrictions on leaving the country and sea for 8 months from May 25th, appealable. The case began when Tseng Li-yen served as a city councilor for three terms (after the county-city merger) and was elected Speaker of the Kaohsiung City Council in the third term, starting from the 99th year of the Republic of China. She is suspected of repeatedly defrauding public assistant subsidies totaling tens of millions of New Taiwan Dollars by using ghost assistants or reporting low salaries during her tenure, diverting them for personal use such as service office expenses. Tseng Li-yen was sentenced to 12 years in prison and 6 years of deprivation of civil rights by the Kaohsiung District Court in the first trial for corruption and other crimes. The Kaohsiung High Court upheld the 12-year sentence and 6-year deprivation of civil rights in the second trial. The case is currently under appeal to the Supreme Court. (Editor: Lin Shu-hui) 1150407