The corruption probe that lead to the indictment of former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and others has uncovered alleged misappropriation of donations purportedly for election campaign expenditure, and has shone a light on loopholes in the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法), Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) said in an interview yesterday.
The Control Yuan in August last year launched its own probe into political donations to Ko’s presidential campaign.
He was seeking the presidency on a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) ticket with former TPP legislator Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈).
Photo: Fang Wei-li, Taipei Times
The campaign has been accused of illegally transferring funds and improperly using donations for personal use.
Lee said that the defendants are expected to dispute the findings of the Control Yuan’s probe, to which it would reply formally in writing.
Following that process, a report would be sent to the Committee on Anti-Corruption, a special body of the Control Yuan, to undergo deliberation for approval, he said.
“The Control Yuan probe has found numerous incidents of alleged contraventions of the Political Donations Act law by Ko and others,” Lee said. “After completing the case, we will explain any punishments.”
Meetings are being held with Cabinet officials to draft amendments to patch up the loopholes, he added.
The Control Yuan would present its opinions and indicate areas that need addressing, he said.
When the discussion of potential amendments are complete, a report would be sent to the Legislative Yuan for consideration, Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said.
Legal experts familiar with Control Yuan’s operations said that even when a political campaign seeks to conform to the Political Donations Act by submitting accounting of the donation they receive, there are still likely to be contraventions of the rules.
“Some politicians have filed accounting expenses from campaigns using a single receipt to cover many donations funds,” said a legal expert, who ask not to be named.
“However, the Control Yuan — which monitors the civil service system and election campaign fund use — ruled it a breach of the rules,” they said.
In other situations overseen by the Control Yuan, politicians allegedly falsified expenses and accounts in contravention of the Business Entity Accounting Act (商業會計法), but proving wrongdoing would have required prosecutors to initiate a probe, the expert said.
“Politicians build up connections and can use them to circumvent restrictions of the Political Donations Act,” the expert said.
“It would take studies by the Control Yuan and a canvassing of public opinion to reach an agreement on what are reasonable levels of expenditure for a political campaign,” they said.
“If donations from individuals and businesses can end up in the pockets of a candidate, the Control Yuan should coordinate with the Cabinet to patch the loopholes,” they added.
The indictment against Ko includes charges that he “received donations that both sides agreed not to report,” that “party officials asked people to donate and gained a commission of whatever they procured” and that Ko colluded with a promotions firm.
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