The head of Taipei's Feitsui Reservoir Administration has been fired and charged with faking expense claims to pocket public money, a blow to Mayor Chiang Wan-an's administration.

• Lin Yu-yi is accused of filing false meal and entertainment expenses against his official discretionary fund, using personal spending unrelated to his job.
• Each claim was small — a few hundred to a few thousand Taiwan dollars — but prosecutors say it still amounts to using public office to defraud.
• Investigators searched two locations and questioned Lin and four staff; he was released on NT$300,000 bail and barred from leaving Taiwan by land or sea. The four others were let go.
• Taipei announced his dismissal after hours with no warning — the first time Chiang has publicly fired a top-tier department head in nearly four years as mayor.
• Lin is a 30-year public service veteran who ran water and soil conservation agencies and Kaohsiung's urban development bureau before Chiang recruited him in late 2022.

Outlook: Prosecutors are expected to keep building the case, and the sudden firing signals City Hall wants distance from the scandal.