11 KMT Chiayi City officials receive suspended sentences for forging recall petition

According to CNA, 11 officials from the KMT's Chiayi City branch, including Secretary-General Chang Chia-ming, were sentenced by the Chiayi District Court on the 22nd for forging recall petition signatures against DPP legislator Wang Mei-hui. All received suspended sentences ranging from 10 months to 1 year and 10 months, and the case can be appealed. The court sentenced Chang to 1 year and 10 months in prison with a 5-year probation, ordering a payment of NT$700,000 to the public treasury. Ten other defendants, including the deputy chairman, general manager, and other staff, received sentences of 10 months to 1 year and 4 months, with 3 to 4 years of probation and fines ranging from NT$200,000 to NT$400,000. According to the Chiayi District Prosecutors Office, the defendants forged the signatures to counter recall efforts against KMT legislators. In January last year, they created a fake seal of the recall initiator, accessed the KMT's database to download member lists, and distributed blank forms to staff to forge signatures. They submitted 2,505 forged petitions to the Central Election Commission on February 13, meeting the threshold of 2,159. The fraud was uncovered after families of deceased individuals whose identities were misused filed complaints. Prosecutors searched the KMT Chiayi branch in December and found that approximately 1,900 out of 2,505 petitions matched the handwriting of Chang and others. The case was concluded and indicted in January.