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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Army sergeant dismissed over old fraud conviction
A Military Police Security Battalion officer keeps watch over the Double Ten National Day ceremony outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei on Oct. 10. Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
PERILOUS PASSION: The sergeant’s unit, which is in charge of the president’s security, also dismissed two officers who were seen hugging and holding hands
By Jason Pan / Staff reporter
A military sergeant responsible for security of the president and vice president has been dismissed after his commanders discovered a conviction for fraud linked to illegal gambling.
The man, surnamed Chen （陳）, was a sergeant in the Military Police Security Battalion, which is tasked with protecting the president and vice president, as well as guarding the Presidential Office Building.
Chen in 2016 began betting on baseball games with underground gambling groups and later was charged with fraud linked to gambling debts, the Nantou District Prosecutors’ Office said.
The office said that it investigated Chen in 2016 and this year, after a police probe linked him to a separate underground gambling group — which also mainly accepted wagers on baseball games.
Prosecutors said that a local court convicted Chen on fraud charges and ordered him to pay compensation.
Top commanders of the battalion said they only learned of the charges against Chen dating to 2016 in the past few days, after receiving a payment order issued by a bank controlling an account of Chen’s that asked the battalion’s accounting section to withhold portions of his wages to pay court-ordered compensation.
The battalion yesterday said that Chen had received two major demerits, enough to warrant his dismissal.
Separately this month, an alleged extramarital affair led to the removal of two officers from the battalion.
A male military police officer surnamed Liu （劉） and a female non-commissioned officer surnamed Lin （林） were seen holding hands and embracing in an area under the battalion’s jurisdiction, reports said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
