The case in which Taiwanese independent legislator Kao Chin Su-mei is accused of fraudulently claiming assistant fees had its first hearing at the Taipei District Court, and the news was bad for her — the office director who works alongside her entered a guilty plea in court.

• Office director Li Chun-jen admitted to all the alleged facts of the offence and asked for a suspended sentence, citing elderly relatives and young children at home, poor financial circumstances, and the fact that he did not receive any of the money himself.
• Kao Chin-shu, chair of the Jinfeng Township Representative Council in Taitung County, also pleaded guilty and expressed willingness to undergo legal education and community service in exchange for a suspended sentence.
• Prosecutors allege that between 2008 and 2018 Kao Chin Su-mei used relatives as nominees to fraudulently claim assistant fees and parental leave allowances totalling more than NT$7.87 million.
• She is also accused of importing more than 70,000 uninspected rapid test kits from China during the pandemic under the guise of "personal use" and then distributing them, in violation of the Medical Devices Act.
• Assistant Chang Chun-chieh, meanwhile, is accused of using the name of an indigenous cultural association to apply for NT$16 million in event subsidies from the Council of Indigenous Peoples, CPC Corporation and Taipower without holding any events, diverting the money to private use.

Outlook: Kao Chin Su-mei's own hearing date has been pushed back from 4 September to 27 October because of a scheduling conflict for her lawyer, and only then will she respond directly to the allegations.