A borough chief in New Taipei's Sanchong District has been accused by several creditors of failing to repay loans and of absconding after collapsing a rotating credit association — bad news for the neighbours and neighbourhood heads who lent him their life savings.

• Guanghua Borough Chief Lin Chun-tao is accused of borrowing several million NT dollars from a number of people, citing reasons such as his ex-wife's cancer and financial hardship, and then disappearing.
• Three neighbourhood heads lent a combined total of more than NT$800,000 and have recovered only NT$120,000 over three years; a low-income household and one woman are also owed money.
• After he organised a rotating credit association, it collapsed, and one member lost the NT$150,000 they had paid in.
• The victims have filed complaints at the Sanchong Precinct for fraud, intimidation and violations of the Election and Recall Act, and have obtained confirmation of their claims and applied for compulsory enforcement.
• Lin Chun-tao denies borrowing money from multiple neighbourhood heads under false pretences, saying he borrowed from only one and has repaid the loan in full.

Outlook: Prosecutors and police have opened an investigation, and more victims may come forward.