Changhua Kindergarten Director, a Model Teacher Award Recipient, Indicted for Fraud and Overcharging; Prosecutors Seek 12-Year Sentence

(CNA, Changhua, June 9) A director of a public elementary school-affiliated kindergarten in Changhua, surnamed Yang, has been indicted and faces a requested 12-year sentence for allegedly defrauding parents, colleagues, and public funds by illegally overcharging fees, falsifying official documents, and colluding with a vendor for false accounting vouchers.

The indictment released today by the Changhua District Prosecutors Office states that Director Yang has served as a teacher and director at the school since October 2012. Her responsibilities included drafting and executing the kindergarten's work plans, preparing budgets, auditing income and expenses, and applying for subsidies, giving her the status of an authorized public servant under the Criminal Code.

According to a press release from the prosecutors, Director Yang, knowing that public kindergarten fees must comply with Changhua County Government regulations, created and used false payment notices without official fee schedules from the 2021 school year until February 2026. She overcharged parents for registration fees (including tuition, miscellaneous fees, and handling fees), depositing only the regulation amount into the public treasury and thereby defrauding them of over NT$1.6 million. During winter and summer breaks, she overcharged for extended care by more than NT$830,000.

For items such as graduation yearbooks, aprons, sportswear, school bags, tableware, performance costume rentals, parent-child trips, and illegally operated after-school clubs, Director Yang charged parents more than the actual cost. She did not deposit the difference into the public treasury or return it to the parents, defrauding them of over NT$1.06 million.

Furthermore, student meals were centrally ordered by the school, and the budget was supposed to cover only students, not staff. However, she falsely told three substitute teachers and educators that they could dine with the students by paying NT$3,500 per semester. She kept the payments for personal use instead of turning them over to the school to order more food, defrauding them of NT$133,000.

Prosecutors stated that Director Yang is also suspected of falsifying the number of students participating in weekday extended care and summer programs in the official system to increase administrative subsidies. She also repeatedly forged sign-in sheets and attendance records to fraudulently claim over NT$80,000 in overtime pay for extended care services.

Investigators discovered that Director Yang, knowing her mother was not qualified as a teaching assistant and did not actually perform the duties, fraudulently claimed subsidies for an "additional teaching assistant for extended care services" in her mother's name. To evade tax audits, she used the bank account of a parent, surnamed Xu, for the declarations, and later continued the scheme under the name of a special education assistant, surnamed Wu, defrauding the government of over NT$440,000. The mother and daughter also forged sign-in sheets to inflate the assistant's work hours, jointly defrauding over NT$600,000 in subsidies.

Additionally, to get reimbursement for meal expenses during winter and summer extended care, Director Yang, despite not purchasing ingredients from a certain food factory, contacted the factory's owner, surnamed Chang, and two employees, surnamed Lin and Dai, to issue false invoices for her to claim over NT$30,000.

The case has been concluded by the Changhua prosecutors, and Director Yang and six others have been indicted on charges including corruption, fraud, forgery, money laundering, and violations of the Business Accounting Act.

Prosecutors considered that Director Yang had previously won a Model Teacher Award and should have been a role model. However, she used her leadership position for long-term illicit gains, undermining the institution's financial discipline and harming parents' rights. Considering her post-offense attitude and the severity of the crimes, a specific sentence of 12 years was requested. Her mother, who assisted as a volunteer but did not actually work as a special education assistant while jointly defrauding public funds, faces a requested sentence of 7 years and 6 months. The prosecution has also requested the court to confiscate all illegal gains.