Candidate for Legislative Yuan Suspected of Violating National Security Law by Accepting USDT and Transmitting Parliament Contact List to China
Independent legislator candidate Ma Zhiwei has become the center of attention due to allegations of accepting funds from mainland China (including USDT) and providing political intelligence. The case has entered the court stage, and the Taoyuan District Court has begun to clarify the truth.
(First legislator candidate in Taiwan suspected of receiving Chinese funds through USDT detained)
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Receiving funds through cryptocurrency and delivering intelligence to China
Partial admission questioned by the court
Why accept Chinese sponsorship?
Defense lawyer: Civil friendship
According to reports, Ma Zhiwei has been accused of accepting over one million New Taiwan dollars in funding (partially paid in cryptocurrency, 19,322 USDT) and providing political intelligence to mainland China, allegedly violating the National Security Law. Under the charges from the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office, Ma has admitted in court to receiving the funds and providing a parliamentary contact list, although she argues that these lists are not classified documents.
Facing questioning from the judge, Ma Zhiwei adopted a partially admitting and partially denying attitude. Regarding the provision of political intelligence, she claimed that what she provided was only public information. However, when the judge presented a page of the contact list with the annotation “for official use only, no reproduction,” she was unable to refute it.
Ma Zhiwei also detailed her contact with individuals from the Chinese side, including several key figures she met during a business trip representing the Police Weekly, such as those nicknamed “Ice Sister” and “Ah Hao.” She admitted to using the DingTalk software, a product under the Alibaba Group, to take photos of the “Central Government Parliamentary Contact List for the 111th Year of the Republic of China in September” and send them to mainland China.
Ma Zhiwei further explained the background of accepting the funding, including the economic pressure during the election period. She emphasized that although she did not know the true identity of the other party or the specific purpose of the funding, she accepted it due to their longstanding relationship, even in the state of ignorance.
Ma Zhiwei’s defense lawyer pointed out that the client’s relationship with individuals from the Chinese side was merely a civil friendship and questioned the prosecution’s failure to provide sufficient evidence to prove that “Ice Sister” and others were members of mainland intelligence agencies. At the same time, the defense also questioned the prosecution’s accusations regarding the parliamentary contact list.
The Taoyuan District Court has announced that the next hearing will take place on May 3, where further details of the case will be examined. This case not only concerns the personal career of a political figure but also involves bribery through cryptocurrency, touching on the delicate political sensitivity between Taiwan and mainland China, attracting high attention from the public.
(Cryptocurrency bribery cases! Taiwan Ministry of Justice prosecutor cites “Chinese cigarettes” as an analogy for concealment, intelligent contract bribery in the 2024 election may occur)
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