Relevant Legal Provisions

Criminal Code Article 210: Whoever forges or alters a private document in a manner sufficient to cause harm to the public or another person shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years.

Criminal Code Article 216: Whoever uses a document as described in Articles 210 to 215 shall be punished according to the provisions governing forgery or alteration of documents or the recordation of false information or causing false information to be recorded.

Criminal Code Article 320, Paragraph 1: Whoever, with intent to unlawfully take property for himself or a third party, steals another person's movable property commits the crime of theft and shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years, short-term imprisonment, or a fine of not more than NT$500,000.

Criminal Code Article 336, Paragraph 2: Whoever commits the crime specified in the preceding article's first paragraph with respect to property held in the course of business shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than six months but not more than five years, and may also be fined not more than NT$90,000.

Criminal Code Article 342, Paragraph 1: Whoever, while handling affairs for another, with intent to unlawfully benefit himself or a third party, or to harm the interests of the principal, commits an act in violation of his duties and thereby causes loss to the principal's property or other interests, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years, short-term imprisonment, or a fine of not more than NT$500,000, or both.

Facts and Reasons

The defendant in this case (our firm's client), during employment, took company property back to his residence and used the company's official seals to issue documents without authorization from the company representative. The company later discovered this and filed a complaint, leading to prosecution.

Judgment

The above facts are all corroborated by the defendant's voluntary and unequivocal admissions during the court's preparatory and trial proceedings. Related evidence contained in the case file confirms that the defendant's spontaneous confession is consistent with the established facts and is therefore credible.

As an employee of the complainant, the defendant failed to obtain property or benefits through legitimate means and instead committed the above misconduct, causing loss to the complainant. Such conduct is indeed blameworthy. However, the defendant admitted wrongdoing after the offense, reached a settlement with the complainant, fully performed the settlement obligations, and the complainant expressly agreed to allow the defendant an opportunity for probation to encourage rehabilitation.

(Note: To protect the client's interests, certain case details and judgment images have been redacted and modified. For a full review of the case, please refer to  Judicial Yuan's judgment database)

承辦律師：Vincent Huang、 Herman Lyu、Ian Yan