Taipei City Councilor Pan Hwai-tzong (???) has been dismissed from his council seat over a graft conviction, effective retrospectively from July 20, with the vacancy to be filled by a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member, according to the city council.
The Executive Yuan has notified Taipei City Council of Pan’s dismissal in accordance with the provisions on deprivation of civil rights under the Local Government Act, Taipei City Council announced Thursday.
Pan, from the New Party, was given a two-year prison sentence that was suspended for five years and a five-year suspension of civil rights by the Taiwan Shilin District Court for embezzling NT$3.3 million (US$110,000) in public funds from 2008-2020.
The court’s decision, which was handed down on June 15, has become final after the prosecutors and Pan both decided to waive the right to appeal.
Chen Hsien-wei (???), a DPP member who got the most votes among the losing candidates in Taipei’s Shilin and Beitou districts in the 2018 election, will be taking up the vacant position, the Taipei City Council said.
According to the district court, Pan admitted to funneling government funds allocated to pay assistants’ salaries and utility bills through figurehead accounts belonging to relatives of his office chief Chen Yu-tai (???), which he said he then used to serve his constituents.
Pan again denied that he used the money for personal purposes, via a statement issued Tuesday, adding that he waived the rights to appeal because he had planned to move away from politics to regain his health.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel