Lee interview rekindles Chung Hsing scandal

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 (華夏公司), he was directly ordered by Lee to open several secret accounts in the names of the party's secretary-general and Central Committee.

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 (陳宏達) said that Taipei prosecutors may summon more witnesses but that his office had not yet decided whether to reopen the case.

PFP legislator and spokesman Hwang Yih-jiau (黃義交) yesterday said that all evidence had been presented during the previous investigation and that it was meaningless to reopen the case based on old evidence presented by Lee.