Convicted former Changhua County Council speaker Pai Hung-shen (白鴻森) is suspected of fleeing after he disappeared on Monday while recuperating from heart surgery at a local hospital.

The former council speaker, of the Kuomintang (KMT), was sentenced in May 2006 to eight years in prison for misappropriating NT$890,000 to pay off friends and supporters.

The Changhua District Court said Pai used local government funds to treat his friends and supporters at hostess bars in Taichung City between 1994 and 2003. Pai was found guilty of corruption and ordered to return the money to the local government.

Pai was originally set to start serving time in June. However, before his prison sentence began, he was diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome.

Pai was hospitalized for observation and a check-up at the Show Chwan Memorial Hospital in Changhua while under guard. In August, Pai was transferred to the Taichung Veterans General Hospital for heart surgery.

Despite being under the watch of police officers, Pai managed to leave the hospital on Sunday afternoon. Attempts to contact or track down Pai, who is scheduled to start his prison sentence next Tuesday, have so far failed.

Chen Teh-fang (陳德芳), a spokesperson for the Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office, said Pai was reported missing by a nurse who went to his room to check on him. Prosecutors said they believed Pai had fled and would list him as a wanted criminal as soon as possible.

The Changhua County Police Bureau said it had given the two police officers guarding Pai major demerits and transferred them from their original posts.

The bureau said it would continue to probe the incident to decide whether the two police officers’ superiors should also be held responsible.

The two police officers who are suspected of helping Pai flee were sent to district prosecutors for questioning.

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