Fri, Nov 01, 2024 page3

• More political donation rules needed

  LACKING: Less than half of the audits resulted in penalties, as no fraudulent reporting was found, but some cases were closed given a lack of personnel and limited authority

  • By Lee Wen-hsin and Jason Pan / Staff reporters
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  The Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center has called for a review of rules on political donations and how to regulate new modes of donating after it found that less than half of related audits in the past decade resulted in penalties.

  Penalties were only imposed in less than half of the cases, especially in cases in which candidates running in elections were involved, the center said in a report released this week.

  The Control Yuan is responsible for scrutinizing asset declarations of elected officials and civil servants, as well as auditing political donations for individual candidates and political parties.

  

  Reporters take photographs of campaign donation records publicized by the Taiwan People’s Party during a news conference in Taipei on Aug. 29.

  Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

  For next year’s budget, the Control Yuan has set aside NT$610,000 (US$19,044) to check bank accounts of candidates and parties accepting political donations, review accounting reports and conduct audits of selected cases, the report said.

  The Control Yuan has audited about 25 percent of political parties’ declarations, 44 percent of those by presidential and vice presidential candidates, 66 percent of those contesting a legislative seat and 15 percent of local elections, it said.

  Its review covered 2014 to last year, totaling 1,548 cases, 718 of which resulted in penalties, or 46.4 percent, while those without penalties were 811, or 52.4 percent.

  The highest proportion for those who were not penalized were candidates in elections at 72.4 percent, while the most imposed penalties involved contraventions and illegal conduct relating to donations from foreign sources, donations exceeding the upper limit, submitting accounting reports past the due date, failure to submit an accounting report, accepting unlawful donations and depositing money into a bank account dedicated to political donations past the 15-day deadline.

  When it comes to candidates who were not penalized, it is likely due to the Control Yuan not finding fraudulent reporting or accounting discrepancies, center officials said.

  However, the lack of personnel for investigations and limited authority to carry out audits, were also another factor, they said, adding that they had to close some cases due to lack of evidence.

  Those who contravene the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法) could be fined up to double the amount of the donation accepted and imprisoned.

  Under the Act on Property-Declaration by Public Servants (公職人員財產申報法), making false declarations with the intention of concealing assets could be fined up to NT$4 million.

  Center officials recommended that the Control Yuan carry out a thorough review on measures and regulations to scrutinize political donations.

  They also suggested changes to include new modes of money transfer, to regulate donations during live-streams and the use of cryptocurrency.

  The Control Yuan should consider making campaign expenditures reports, enhancing regulations on and scrutiny of political donations and campaign finances, and revise and strengthen related law statutes, the center said.
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