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Second ex-lawmaker in
a week fails to report to jail
By Rich Chang / Staff reporter
Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker Chiang Lien-fu (¦¿³sºÖ) has failed
to report to authorities to start serving a four-and-half-year prison term for
vote-buying, prosecutors said.
Chiang was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison by the Supreme Court on
Feb. 22 for vote-buying during the 2007 legislative elections in then-Taichung
city. Chiang was expelled from the legislature after the Taiwan High Court¡¦s
Taichung branch nullified his legislator status on October 2009.
According to Taichung prosecutors, Chiang last month notified the Taichung
District Prosecutors¡¦ Office that he had transferred his household to Changhua
County. The Taichung District Prosecutors¡¦ Office consequently authorized the
Changhua District Prosecutors¡¦ Office to imprison Chiang.
Taichung prosecutors said Changhua prosecutors told -Chiang to report for prison
on April 18 and begin serving his sentence, but he failed to meet with Changhua
prosecutors on that day and has since been missing, prompting Taichung
prosecutors to issue warrants against him. The warrant was valid till April 26
and still there was no sign of Chiang.
Taichung prosecutors said that there was no indication Chiang has fled the
country, adding that prosecutors might place him on the wanted list soon.
According to prosecutors, -Chiang¡¦s family and his former aides said they had no
idea of his whereabouts.
This is the second case within a week in which a high-profile convict failed to
report to prison and might have fled the country.
Former legislator Lo Fu-chu (ùºÖ§U) was placed on the most-wanted list last week
after failing to report to prosecutors to begin serving a four-year prison term
for forgery, stock manipulation and money laundering.
The Ministry of Justice said it planned to amend the law to allow prosecutors to
issue warrants for major criminals as soon as the courts hand down final
verdicts in their cases.
It also wants prosecutors to be able to monitor convicts through electronic tags
and other means as they await their prison terms.
It added that it had invited Bureau of Investigation, police, coast guard and
immigration authorities to discuss the issue in a meeting tomorrow.
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