KMT aims for Soong's accounts

The battle lines between the KMT and its former favorite son but now outcast James Soong (宋楚瑜) were drawn yesterday over the legality of bank accounts Soong allegedly set up to disburse controversial funds totaling NT$146 million.

Senior party officials launched a new wave of attacks against the independent presidential candidate, accusing Soong of using public funds for the building of personal connections.

They also hinted that further details of other "mystery accounts" related to Soong's unusual financial dealings would be revealed within the next few days.

Nevertheless, Soong appeared defiant yesterday. "If KMT leaders are holding evidence, please, let them not hesitate to display it. But I personally guarantee that there are no other secret accounts,'' he said.

At issue is the identity of the accounts that Soong claims to have used in holding a total of NT$146 million, which, he claims, was given to him in 1992 by the party after being collected from various companies that had close ties to President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). The money, Soong claims, was supposed to be spent on boosting the electoral hopes of party-nominated candidates who lacked sufficient funding as well as, more controversially, members of the opposition.

According to Soong, the money was split up into two accounts. The first, which took NT$60 million, was a special account under the name of the KMT secretary-general, a post which Soong held at the time. The second, which took the balance of NT$86 million, was another special account for welfare spending under the KMT-run Hua Hsia Investment Holding Company (華夏投資).

The KMT now claims that it knows nothing of how either account came to be established and has suggested that Soong might have set them up in a fraudulent manner.

Soong has not yet given details of who has actually benefited from the funds, but he implied that members of the DPP had been beneficiaries.

Throughout the controversy, however, he has maintained that his financial integrity is intact. "In the process of managing these funds, I have never been involved in any illegal deals, or taken a penny for myself,'' he said.

KMT spokesman Huang Hwei-chen (黃輝珍), who conducted a nationally televised press conference after Soong's own press conference had finished late Friday night, was the first to call into question the nature of Soong's accounts, denying that President Lee had ever given his permission to Soong to establish a special secretary-general's account.

"President Lee only approved the opening of an educational fund for the Chiang family with a deposit of NT$26 million. He never gave any instructions in connection with the NT$140 million `political purpose' funds,'' Huang said.

The KMT spokesman went further. "We also have no idea how come Soong's seal is different from the official central committee stamp [on the account's documents],'' Huang said, suggesting Soong had duplicated the party's official seal in order to open his secret account.

Liu Ta-pei (劉?j貝), executive secretary of the KMT's business management committee, said yesterday that Soong had established the Hua Hsia account under the company's name without gaining the necessary approval, and the account had a different account number and required a different signature procedure.

A source close to President Lee, who asked not to be named, said it was clear that Soong had been attempting to develop his own power base through the use of party funds.