An aide to Taiwan independent lawmaker Kao Chin-su-mei has been declared wanted after his electronic ankle monitor was found damaged and abandoned at a park in Taipei, six days after he appeared in court over an alleged legislative aide-fund fraud case.
Chang Chun-chieh, the only defendant in the case who was previously detained, had been released on NT$10 million (about RM1.28 million) bail and placed under electronic monitoring by the Taipei District Court.
The monitor issued a low-battery alert late on September 6. After receiving the notification, the presiding judge immediately joined police in searching the device’s last reported location at Daan Forest Park.
They eventually found the damaged ankle monitor abandoned in bushes near a public toilet. Chang, however, was nowhere to be found, and police are now reviewing surveillance footage to track him down.
The Taipei District Court issued a warrant for Chang’s arrest on September 7, with the warrant valid until January 21, 2059. The court also reported the alleged damage to the electronic monitor as a suspected offence involving damage to public property.
The case involving Kao was formally concluded by prosecutors and brought to trial in June over allegations of fraudulently claiming legislative assistant expenses.
Chang, who was the director of Kao’s legislative office and the father-in-law of Golden Melody Award-winning singer Matzka, appeared in court on September 1 and denied the allegations.
He claimed that he did not know Liu Pei-ying, Kao’s sister-in-law, and was unaware that Liu had allegedly been listed as a nominal employee. Chang also denied forging documents or having any intention to fraudulently claim assistant expenses.
Prosecutors have reportedly sought a 16-year prison sentence for Chang, who was the only defendant in the case to have been detained.
The court said it had also contacted immigration authorities and asked them to strengthen checks following Chang’s disappearance.
Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the damaged monitor and are expanding their review of surveillance footage. However, the court noted that the area of Daan Forest Park where the monitor was found does not have surveillance cameras, meaning there was no footage capturing Chang’s alleged escape.
The damaged electronic monitor has since been handed over to prosecutors for further handling.
