Taiwanese Township Chairman Indicted for Extortion, Tax Evasion; Denies Charges

Yunlin District Prosecutor's Office has indicted 15 individuals, including Maijiao Township Representative Chairman Han Qingshan, on charges of extortion and tax evasion. Prosecutors allege that Han's company, which he manages with his wife as CFO and another individual as accountant, issued 137 false invoices totaling over 150 million NT dollars between late 2018 and 2024. This scheme allegedly aimed to evade 7.32 million NT dollars in business tax and 26.56 million NT dollars in profit-seeking enterprise income tax.

The investigation also revealed that Han's company collaborated with another firm to create the appearance of stable monthly transactions, allegedly defrauding a loan company of approximately 500,000 NT dollars in car loans. Furthermore, Han's investment in a hotel allegedly involved evading a 25% value-added tax by channeling revenue to an unrelated individual, resulting in underreported income of over 22.83 million NT dollars and evaded business taxes of 5.89 million NT dollars.

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For the prosecutor's untrue accusations, I will defend my innocence in court.

Prosecutors have charged Han and the other 14 individuals with violations of the Tax Administration Act, the Business Accounting Act, and aggravated fraud. They emphasized that tax evasion undermines tax fairness and economic order, vowing to dismantle economic criminal organizations. Han, however, maintains his innocence, calling the accusations "untrue" and asserting that he will defend himself with evidence in court. He believes the people of Maijiao understand his actions and that he has been unfairly targeted.

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The prosecutor's accusations are untrue. I was made the protagonist of this story. I believe the people of Maijiao know very well what I have done. In the future, I will speak with evidence in court to defend my innocence.