DNA tests reveal Koo's `love child' is probably not his

A DNA test revealed that the late Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫), a former chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), likely had no parental relationship with Chang Yi-hua (張怡華), who has claimed to be Koo's daughter and has demanded compensation from the Koo family.

"Due to a gag order, we will not release the details of the DNA test, but we can say that the result was in favor of the Koo family," said Wang Jen-kuei (王壬貴), spokesman for the Shilin District Prosecutor's Office.

Chang's attorney, Chang Li-yeh (張立業), yesterday responded to the DNA test's result by saying his client does not trust the results, because she doubted prosecutors had really been able to verify that the tissue used in the test was Koo's, so she would ask prosecutors to open Koo's coffin and take tissue from his body.

Wang said such a procedure was not necessary, because prosecutors already had the test results.

Prosecutors said that in order to facilitate the investigation, they asked Koo Chen-fu's second son, Leslie Koo (辜成允) and Chang to take a DNA test when summoned for questioning late last month.

Prosecutors asked the Koo Foundation Sun Yat-sen Cancer Center to provide tissue from Koo's gall bladder to use in the DNA test.

Prosecutors said the results from the two DNA tests were consistent.

Meanwhile, the Shilin Prosecutor's Office has begun investigating allegations by the Koo family that Chang and her mother, Teng Hsiang-mei (鄧香妹), are extortionists because of the huge compensation they demanded from the family.

The lawsuit began after the Koo family refused to continue payments made by Koo to Chang while he was alive. Koo allegedly made the decision to pay Chang to keep the matter out of the media.

After Koo died and his family refused to continue the payments, Chang and Teng made the matter public.

In addition to the original lawsuit, Chang and Teng have been sued by the Koo family, which seeks the return of properties and assets acquired from the family. The Shilin District Court has responded by executing a provisional seizure of Chang's apartment in Neihu.

According to Teng, a 64 year-old woman, she first met Koo Chen-fu in 1964 when he was 48 and she was in her early 20s, and they had a relationship until his death. Three years after Koo and Teng met, she gave birth to Chang, who is now 38.

After Chang was born, Teng alleged, Koo's family gave Chang and Teng two apartments and -- since 1994 -- cash payments of NT$205,000 per month.

Koo died earlier this year at the age of 89.

The Koo family is one of the most prominent and wealthy in the nation. Koo Chen-fu and his nephew Jeffrey Koo (辜濂松) are key players in the construction, telecommunications and financial service industries.