Taipei prosecutors said yesterday that they had not decided whether Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was guilty of any wrongdoing after questioning him for four hours over alleged misuse of his special expense fund.
"Ma was questioned [yesterday] as a concerned party, and his status remains that of a concerned party following the interview," Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office spokesman Chang Wen-cheng (張文政) told a press conference.
Chang said Ma, interviewed from 8:50am to 12:50pm, detailed his handling of his special allowance fund during his time in office.
Ma cooperated fully with the investigation, Chang added.
Chang said it was too early to say whether Ma was guilty of anything and whether he would be charged.
"Prosecutors need time to look at Ma's statement and compare it with the evidence gathered," Chang said, adding that Ma offered prosecutors a number of documents related to his usage of the special allowance.
Chang said Prosecutor Hou Kuan-jen (
Other Black Gold Investigation Center prosecutors, including Prosecutor Eric Chen (陳瑞仁), who indicted first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) on corruption and forgery charges in connection with the handling of the "state affairs fund," joined the Ma investigation to avoid controversy different investigation standards from those used during the first family's investigation, Chang added.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓) and several of her colleagues filed a lawsuit with the Black Gold Investigation Center on Aug. 4 accusing Ma of using his special allowance fund to pay for a physical exam and fees to adopt a dog known as Ma Hsiao-jeou (馬小九).
DPP lawmakers accused Ma of spending NT$79,700 (US$2,430) from the special allowance on his dog. They also accused him of embezzling half of his special monthly mayoral allowance, or NT$170,000, alleging that he deposits the funds into his personal account every month.
Ma has admitted using money from the fund to adopt his dog but said that the bill came to only NT$9,900 and that he had repaid that amount.
After being questioned, Ma said he had always run his administration according to the law, but declined to reveal the content of the questioning.
"I have adhered to the law and separated my public and private interests," Ma said.
While declining to comment on his conversation with the prosecutors, Ma insisted he had explained the matter in detail, and believed that the prosecutors would make their judgment in accordance with the law.
In response to questions from reporters about including money left in the fund in his declaration of property, Ma said he did so according to the Act on Property Declarations by Public Servants (
Ma said that he spent half of the monthly NT$340,000 fund, which requires receipts, on gifts for weddings, funerals and rewards for his employees.
The other half of the fund, which did not require receipts, went into his personal account.
He dismissed speculation that there was any discrepancy between the total of his receipts and the actual expenditure.
"I have a lot of confidence in the prosecutors," he added.
Ma was scheduled to meet the prosecutors at 9:30am, but the meeting was moved forward by 30 minutes and the location was changed.
Taipei City Government officials yesterday acknowledged that the prosecutors changed the time and location after learning that the media had acquired the information, but they denied leaking the news.
also see story:
Substitute receipts discovered in mayoral account
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS