Prosecutors from our office investigated a case of alleged embezzlement of assistant fees by Ms. Pan, a former deputy speaker of the Hualien County Council, and concluded the investigation on the 13^th of January, 2023. The prosecutor has filed charges in accordance with the law and confiscated the criminal proceeds of NT$1,289,198.

During Ms. Pan's tenure as deputy speaker of the Hualien County Council from December 25, 2018 to December 24, 2022, she committed the following acts of embezzlement of assistant subsidies: (1) From December 25, 2018 to February 28, 2019, Ms. Pan falsely claimed that a staff of a restaurant was an assistant of the Hualien County Council and embezzled subsidy of NT$85,000. (2) From July 1, 2019 to January 31, 2020, Ms. Pan and her daughter Pan Yu falsely claimed that a staff of a B&B they operated in Yuli Township, Hualien County was an assistant of the Hualien County Council and embezzled subsidy of NT$265,800. (3) From February 1, 2020 to January 4, 2021, Ms. Pan falsely claimed that another staff from the same B&B was an assistant of the Hualien County Council and embezzled an assistant subsidy of NT$330,810. (4) From January 5, 2021 to December 24, 2022, Ms. Pan falsely claimed that a staff from a construction company was an assistant of the Hualien County Council and embezzled subsidy of NT$608,317. To sum up, Ms. Pan embezzled a total of NT$1,289,198 in assistant subsidies.

The actions of Ms. Pan and her daughter Pan Yu are both suspected of violating Article 5, paragraph 1, subparagraph 2 of the Anti-Corruption Act, which prohibits public officials from using their positions to obtain property through fraud, and Article 214 of the Criminal Code, which prohibits public officials from making false entries. Both Ms. Pan and her daughter have confessed to the crimes during the investigation and returned all the proceeds of the crime. The prosecutor concluded the investigation on the 13^th of January, 2023 and filed charges in accordance with the law.