Chen denies Sogo voucher charges

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday put his career on the line, saying that he was willing to step down if any member of the first family had improperly received and used Sogo Department Store gift vouchers.

"Neither the president, first lady or first family members have ever accepted Sogo Department Store coupons from Lee Heng-lung (李恆隆), Chang Min-chiang (章民強), Douglas Hsu (徐旭東) or Chen Che-nan (陳哲男)," said David Lee (李南陽), director-general of the Public Affairs Department of the Presidential Office. "The president feels deeply regretful for all the false allegations against the first family, because they have seriously damaged their reputation and are unfair to them."

Lee made the remarks yesterday morning in response to recent media reports claiming that the president and first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) had illegally received political contributions and department store gift vouchers.

A front-page story in yesterday's edition of the China Times quoted a media figure saying that a Sogo employee had told her that Wu used Sogo Department Store vouchers to make five purchases worth NT$240,000 (US$7,500) between February 2003 and April 2003.

The Presidential Office yesterday dismissed the allegation, saying that Wu made three purchases totaling about NT$40,000 during that period, and that the purchases were made with vouchers jointly bought by Wu and her friends.

Previously, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教), who is vying for the Kaohsiung City mayorship, alleged that Wu had received NT$8.8 million in Sogo Department Store gift vouchers, while the president had received political contributions from a convicted criminal through someone from the Presidential Office.

The president and first lady have filed a private criminal complaint against Lee Chuan-chiao.

Convoluted tale

Lee claimed that Chang, former chief of the Pacific Group, handed over NT$20 million to Pacific Distribution Investment Co chairman Lee Heng-lung, who then immediately arranged a lunch with former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Chen Che-nan.

Chen Che-nan then reportedly promised to help Chang keep his chairmanship, but later reneged on the deal, the legislator said. The chairmanship later went to the Far East Group, led by Hsu. Chang later filed a lawsuit against Lee Heng-lung for breach of trust.

The United Daily News reported yesterday that Chang told prosecutors that he did take vouchers worth NT$4 million from the department store for personal purposes and wired a total of NT$20 million to Lee Heng-lung, who then arranged a meeting for him and Chen Che-nan.

After losing the chairmanship of the department store, Chang said that he suspected Lee Heng-lung had struck a secret deal with Hsu, the report said.

But Hsu yesterday dismissed Chang's allegation, saying that he had not struck any secret deal with Lee Heng-lung nor did he have anything to do with the Sogo vouchers.

"As an 85-year-old man, he [Chang] might not remember what he said in the morning at the end of the day," he said.

Chang's son, Chang Chih-ming (章啟明), yesterday said that it was impossible that his family bribed any government officials. But he did say that Chen Che-nan took him to see former finance minister Yen Ching-chang (顏慶章). Chang Chih-ming said that he would hold a press conference today to offer a clearer account of the matter.