Taipei prosecutors said Monday that they do not rule out the possibility of launching a new round of investigations into the Chung Hsing Bills Finance case, which was originally closed more than two years ago, a Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday.
In the run-up to the March 2000 presidential election, the KMT filed a lawsuit against PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) -- a former KMT secretary-general -- for embezzling party funds totaling around NT$360 million and forging party seals to open bank accounts in the party's name without authorization.
In 2001, Taipei prosecutors decided not to indict Soong. The decision was made based on Soong's explanation that he was using the money to carry out special tasks ordered by then KMT chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
According to a front-page report in a Chinese-language newspaper yesterday, Taipei prosecutors may decide to further investigate the case after their recent interview with Lee, a key figure in the alleged scandal.
The report said that Lee denied many of Soong's allegations during the interview last week. He also clarified his role in the scandal in several respects.
Soong had told Taipei prosecutors that, during his term as both secretary-general of the KMT and chairman of the KMT-controlled Huahsia Investment Holding Company (
During the interview, Lee said that he knew nothing about these accounts, claiming that he never authorized Soong to open any accounts to handle special party tasks. He also said that he did not order Soong to hand over these accounts to his successor when Soong left his post, proving that he knew nothing about them.
Lee also said that a large amount of money -- including political donations made to the party and profits of the KMT-controlled Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC, 中廣) -- was later transferred by Soong to about 20 private accounts.
Lee said that he never allowed Soong to transfer party funds to any private accounts, and that this would never have happened if he had known about it beforehand.
Lee admitted that he did approve Soong's suggestion of setting up a special account to take care of the family of the former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國). But he said that the limit of the special fund was about NT$26 million -- not more than NT$60 million, as Soong claimed.
Lee said that Soong was using the account for the Chiang family to divert people's attention.
Yesterday, Taipei District Prosecutors' Office spokesman Chen Hung-ta (
PFP legislator and spokesman Hwang Yih-jiau (
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS