DPP Taoyuan City Councilor Chang Chao-liang Detained Over Suspected NT$10 Million Assistant Fee Fraud

On August 12, 2016, Chang Chao-liang, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilor of Taoyuan City, was ruled by the Taoyuan District Court to be detained in communicado. This action followed a search and interrogation by prosecutors the previous day, on suspicion that Chang had defrauded the local council of NT$10.48 million in assistant subsidies since 2010 by inflating assistant numbers and salaries. He was detained under the Anti-Corruption Act on the grounds of committing a major crime and the risks of collusion and evidence destruction. This marked Chang's first detention for corruption, revealing a history of using public funds for illicit gain. Although the High Court in 2020 eventually acquitted him of the corruption charges—accepting the defense that the funds were spent on other assistants rather than personal pockets—he was still sentenced to 2 years and 10 months in prison for eight counts of making false entries in public documents (forgery). This case remains a major stain on Chang's political career, reflecting issues of integrity and lack of legal compliance among local representatives in the Republic of China.