Allegations that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) received a NT$200 million (US$6.2 million) off-the-books political donation from Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) made by media personality Clara Chou (周玉蔻) are being investigated by the Special Investigation Division (SID) of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, while Ma said yesterday that he was suing Chou in an individual capacity to defend the dignity of the head of state.
Chou has cited anonymous sources at the National Security Council that said the “Ma administration” — which she said referred to Ma himself — had privately accepted a NT$200 million political donation, severely tarnishing the image of the Ma administration as honest.
Chou said that Senhwa Biosciences (生華生物科技) chairman Benny Hu (胡定吾) was a key person in the process and the relationship between Hu, Ma and Ting Hsin had caused the Ma administration to cover up for Ting Hsin during food safety scandals earlier this year.
Photo: Pan Shao-tang, Taipei Times
SID Director Kuo Wen-tung (郭文東) said the division has assigned Prosecutor Lin Cheng-tsung (林承宗) to head the investigation of alleged violations of the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法).
The case is still in the evidence-gathering stage and there is no clear defendant as of yet, Kuo said, adding that the division was not ruling out questioning Chou.
The SID is only gathering evidence to determine whether the case would fall under the division’s jurisdiction, Kuo said, adding that if that was not the case, it would be transferred to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
The district prosecutors’ office would be kept in the loop during the investigation, Kuo said.
Presidential Office spokesperson Ma Wei-kuo (馬瑋國) said yesterday that the allegations were baseless slander and added that Ma had applauded the SID’s initiative to investigate the allegations.
The president has expressed his hope that the judiciary would be able to clear up the incident as soon as possible, Ma Wei-kuo said.
Ma Wei-kuo said the government’s stance on the food safety scandals involving Ting Hsin was that the judiciary should investigate the cases and punish violators of the law heavily.
Meanwhile, in response to Ma Ying-jeou’s litigation against her, Chou said yesterday that she had mentioned specific sources in all recent reports and should the case be taken to court she could prove that all her claims are based on truth by calling witnesses to the stand.
“Since I am the defendant in the suit Ma raised against me, I need not make any statements to the SID that would be disadvantageous to me,” Chou said.
However, she added that an exception could be made if the SID wished to look deeper into the possibility that the Ma administration has been covering for Ting Hsin.
Chou said that by law, the legality of the political donations lay within the jurisdiction of the Control Yuan and not the SID, adding that she would decide whether she would talk with the SID concerning the case today.
Additional reporting by CNA
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英) fraud conviction and prison sentence were yesterday overturned by a Hong Kong court, in a surprise legal decision that comes soon after Lai was jailed for 20 years on a separate national security charge. Judges Jeremy Poon (潘兆初), Anthea Pang (彭寶琴) and Derek Pang (彭偉昌) said in the judgement that they allowed the appeal from Lai, and another defendant in the case, to proceed, as a lower court judge had “erred.” “The Court of Appeal gave them leave to appeal against their conviction, allowed their appeals, quashed the convictions and set aside the sentences,” the judges
RSS