Taipei prosecutors have filed charges against media personality Clara Chou (周玉蔻) of defamation and making accusations without concrete evidence in connection with allegations she made last year that Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際集團) had made illegal political donations to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office wrapped up its investigation into the case by issuing a news release to announce the indictment.
The office said there were records of Chou disseminating defaming statements in writing, appearances on television talk shows and other media appearances on 12 occasions between Dec. 22 and Dec. 26 last year.
Chou said she would not comment on the indictments, although she posted “Ha, Ha, Ha” on Facebook.
Chou’s allegations came amid a public furor over a tainted food scandal involving Ting Hsin International Group after the company was found to use adulterated ingredients in its oil products.
Chou said she had evidence that Ma had received NT$200 million (US$6 million at current exchange rates) in an off-the-books political donation from the Wei (魏) brothers, owners of Ting Hsin group.
She said Ma, by accepting the money, had become a “guardian protector” for the Ting Hsin group.
“The Ma administration, including Ma himself, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus and KMT legislators were obvious in their efforts to protect Ting Hsin and shield the company from prosecution,” she said at the time.
Chou accused former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) of receiving benefits from Ting Hsin, along with allegations that Senhwa Biosciences chairman Benny Hu (胡定吾), a friend of Ma’s, had acted as a middleman in the NT$200 million donation.
Hu is also a board member of Taipei Financial Center Corp, the firm that operates Taipei 101.
Chou also alleged that Hon Hai Group founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) made a secret donation of NT$300 million to KMT Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文) last year.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man