An aide to Taiwanese lawmaker Kao Chin Su-mei is on the run in a major corruption case, a setback for prosecutors and an embarrassment for the courts.

• Chang Chun-chieh, an aide to independent lawmaker Kao Chin Su-mei, cut off and dumped his electronic monitoring bracelet and vanished.
• The alert came late at night when the bracelet's battery ran low; the presiding judge personally joined police in the search but found only the broken device.
• A warrant is now out for him, valid for decades, and border authorities have been told to watch for him.
• He and Kao are accused of pocketing millions in fake aide salaries and government grants funneled through an indigenous association; prosecutors want 16 years for him and more than 12 for her.
• He had been free on a large bail with a travel ban after claiming illness, and denied the corruption charges in court last week while admitting to lesser forgery counts.

Outlook: The court will keep hunting for him at the border and inside Taiwan, and the escape will make it harder for other defendants in the case to argue for release.