The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee for the first time has taken over the stock of companies after the Supreme Administrative Court on Thursday rejected the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) appeal of a decision to nationalize Central Investment Co and Hsinyutai Co, which are estimated to be worth a combined NT$15.6 billion (US$498.32 million).
The committee would consult lawyers on how to proceed, as ongoing lawsuits might prevent it from immediately acting on the ruling, a source in the committee said on Friday on condition of anonymity.
The committee in 2016 declared that the two firms were illegally obtained assets, prompting the KMT and executives from the companies to file three separate lawsuits against the decision.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The companies say that nationalization would be illegal.
The High Administrative Court ruled against the KMT, but the other two cases have been remanded, with the administrative court saying the firms “were not the appropriate entities to take the issue to court,” the source said.
The Promoting Transitional Justice Fund, which is managed by the National Development Council, has been looking into the procedures involved in transferring the ownership of the stocks, the source said.
There are no procedures for transferring ownership of stocks, they said.
The stocks, once transferred, would be subject to Article 7 of the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例), meaning that the Promoting Transitional Justice Fund would manage them — including for use in the promotion of transitional justice and human rights education, long-term healthcare, social welfare policies and other such causes, the source added.
Both companies would be considered government assets and the state would assign board members to finalize their nationalization, they said.
It is too early to consider the possibility of the government selling the stocks to allow the firms to transition to private ownership, they said.
Rejection of the KMT’s lawsuit upheld Constitutional Interpretation No. 793 — which established the act — the committee said, adding that recovery of former national assets upholds the ideals of liberty, democracy and the rule of law as represented by the Constitution.
KMT Secretary-General Justin Huang (黃健庭) accused the Democratic Progressive Party government of a “purge under the guise of transitional justice.”
It is regrettable that the administrative court has become an accomplice in this matter, Huang said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang
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