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Taiwan official set to plead guilty in US case

18 November 2011 02:56 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A Taiwanese official currently detained in Missouri on charges of mistreating her housekeeper is expected to plead guilty, court documents showed Thursday, APA reports quoting AFP.

Liu Hsien-hsien, director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Kansas City, Missouri, was arrested last week for allegedly treating her Filipino housekeeper like a slave.

Taiwan on Tuesday said it was hoping to swiftly secure her release, insisting she was "improperly arrested" by the United States on foreign labor fraud charges.

However, the foreign ministry said it will "by no means cover her if she is found to have committed wrongdoings" and launched its own investigation into the allegations.

Liu is expected to plead guilty on Friday, sources close the case told AFP.

In an order cancelling a previously scheduled teleconference, magistrate Judge Robert Larsen noted that he had been informed Thursday that the parties "have already scheduled a change of plea" before a different judge.

That appearance has not yet been posted on the court’s docket sheet.

US prosecutors said Liu took away the woman’s passport, told her she was not allowed to leave the house without permission, made her work 16 to 18 hour days at a quarter of the agreed wages, monitored her with video surveillance cameras and "restricted when she could sleep."

Liu also allegedly told the woman that if she "acted out, she would be deported" because Liu was "friends with local law enforcement and known well in the community," charging papers said.

The woman eventually escaped after seeking help from a Filipino man she met at the grocery store.

It was at least the second time Liu had mistreated a housekeeper, prosecutors allege.

The previous housekeeper "went into a state of depression and stopped eating" as a result of the physical and verbal abuse, prosecutors said citing testimony by an unnamed witness who works as a director at the Kansas City office.

Liu faces up to five years in jail if convicted of the single charge of fraud in foreign labor contracting. She is seeking expedited sentencing, the court order issued Thursday said.

The Taipei mission, which has several offices around the United States, serves as a de facto embassy.

Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 but has remained a key ally and a leading arms supplier to the island.