Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) confirmed he was questioned by prosecutors again yesterday morning about the details of all donations he claimed to have made to public welfare groups with money from his mayoral special allowance fund.
It was the second time Ma has been questioned by prosecutors. Taipei prosecutors questioned him on Tuesday for more than four hours over his handling of his special allowance fund.
Returning to his office at around 12:30pm, Ma said the session had provided him with a good opportunity to clarify the facts.
"Everything is fine," Ma told reporters gathered in front of his office.
While declining to comment on the details of his conversation with the prosecutors, Ma insisted that he had explained the matter in detail, and believed that the prosecutors would make their judgment in accordance with the law.
"The prosecutors wanted to know the details of my donations. I respect the prosecutors and believe that they will handle the case impartially," he said while attending a municipal event at Chiang Cheng Municipal Junior High School.
Ma has previously said that he had donated more than NT$69 million (US$2.09 million) to public welfare groups over the past eight years, including two foundations established with NT$47 million left over from mayoral election subsidies and more than NT$16 million from his personal account that was given to more than 11 groups.
Last Friday Ma said that he had donated NT$6 million earlier that day and would contribute another NT$5.5 million from the special mayoral fund this week.
Those two donations, he said, in addition to the NT$5 million he donated over the past year, would equal the NT$16 million of his monthly mayoral allowance that required no independent accounting oversight.
On Saturday, however, the Taipei City Government said that the money came not from Ma's special allowance fund, but from his personal bank account. The mayor had decided to donate an amount equal in proportion to highlight the flaws in the special fund system, the city government said.
Facing continuous requests for him to publicize his donation records, Ma reiterated yesterday that he would make the records public "at the proper time," but declined to give an exact date.
Ma also confirmed that his wife, Chou Mei-ching (周美青), was questioned last week, but denied she was questioned again yesterday.
Ma was questioned by Prosecutor Hou Kuan-jen (侯寬仁) from the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office's Black Gold Investigation Center.
Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office Spokesman Chang Wen-cheng (
"Prosecutors needed to see him [Ma] again to clarify their questions over documents that the defendant provided during the last session," Chang said.
"Prosecutors never summon anyone randomly. Our sessions are all scheduled. We would not summon anyone without good reason," he added.
Additional reporting by Jimmy ChuaNg
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique