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Prosecutors drop
charges against Jacqueline Liu
‘CIVIL, NOT CRIMINAL’: The disgraced diplomat’s
case was closed due to lack of evidence of the embezzlement, human trafficking
and fraud that she was charged with
Staff writer, with CNA
Not enough evidence was found to indict Taiwanese diplomat Jacqueline Liu (劉姍姍)
over abuse of her maids in the US and violating the Criminal Code, the Taipei
District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday.
The office closed the case and described it as a civil dispute because
insufficient evidence was presented to support criminal charges against Liu, who
was the former director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Kansas
City, Missouri.
Liu was accused of abusing her two Filipino maids in the US, and faced potential
charges of embezzlement, fraud and violating the Human Trafficking Prevention
Act (人口販運防制法).
Liu had been suspected of embezzlement because she had signed a contract with
the maids to give them a monthly salary of US$1,240, but only paid them US$450 a
month.
However, prosecutors found that the amount Liu paid was the amount she reported
back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for reimbursement, indicating she had
not embezzled funds.
Regarding the accusations that Liu’s payment of only a fraction of the
contracted amount constituted fraud, the maids had agreed to the monthly salary
and to have accommodation, food and insurance expenses deducted from it,
prosecutors said.
Since the maids had agreed to the conditions, Liu could not be indicted for
fraud, prosecutors said, noting that the circumstances involved were more suited
to a civil case than a criminal one.
An investigation by prosecutors also discovered that the US$1,240 contract
provided by an official at Taiwan’s representative office in the Philippines who
interviewed the maids was calculated in accordance with the minimum wage in the
US and included insurance, local media reported.
As for the human trafficking charges and Liu restricting the maids’ freedom with
three surveillance cameras, the cameras had actually been installed in the house
before she was posted to the US, the reports said.
Liu was arrested by the FBI on Nov. 10 last year, and was detained for two
months before entering a plea agreement.
Under the deal, she was ordered to pay US$80,044 in restitution to the two maids
on Jan. 27, and was deported to Taiwan on Feb. 15. Liu was questioned by the
Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Feb. 22. The case has prompted the
ministry to review its employment system for foreign housekeepers in the homes
of diplomats stationed overseas.
The Control Yuan last month impeached Liu after it completed its probe into her
case and accused her of malfeasance for having hired a Chinese woman as a
housekeeper in a move it said “raised national security concerns.”
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