Prosecutors seek more witnesses in Soong case

The storm over independent presidential candidate James Soong's financial dealings continued to build yesterday as prosecutors issued summonses to more than 10 key witnesses for questioning.

Among those summoned were Soong's former aide, Yang Yun-tai (楊雲黛), former deputy secretary-general of the provincial government Ma Chieh-ming (馬傑明), Mercuries and Associates CEO Chen He-tung (陳河東), Lin Shao-pin (林少斌), a secretary of the general manager at the Bank of Taiwan, and others who provided front accounts for Soong's overseas remittances.

Chief prosecutor Hung Wen-tai (洪文泰), who is investigating the case, said he does not rule out summoning more witnesses.

The investigation is currently focusing on possible misappropriation of KMT funds, forgery, and money-laundering.

The summonses came one day after the Control Yuan released a report detailing the results of its own investigation.

The report concluded that Soong had failed to report properly to authorities both election expenses and overseas properties totaling NT$1.1 billion.

The report said Soong had raised a total of NT$520 million in election donations but reported only about NT$104 million to authorities.

The report also said that Soong's financial activities were most intense in three periods: shortly before and after he resigned as KMT secretary-general; the run-up to the 1994 gubernatorial election; and shortly before and after resigning as provincial governor.

One focus of the prosecutors' investigation involves more than NT$83 million in checks issued in 1995 by Ma to Chen. Mercuries' officials yesterday said that Chen had helped Soong take care of the money on the basis of their personal friendship and that the money had nothing to do with Mercuries.

Chen returned the money to Soong in cash later that year, and it was up to Soong's camp to explain whether the transactions involved money-laundering, the officials said.

Meanwhile, Soong responded to the new developments by demanding prosecutors give "equal treatment" to the other presidential candidates.

Soong also maintained that the Control Yuan's investigation report released on Thursday had proven that he did not steal any money.

However, Chang Fu-mei (張富美), a member of the Control Yuan's special task force that handled Soong's case, said Soong canceled two time deposits totaling about NT$170 million in 1995 and reported the money to the KMT as election funds for tax purposes.

The money later was returned into Soong's hands, Chang said.

Meanwhile, Chao Jung-yao (趙榮耀), another member of the task force, said their findings should lead to a re-evaluation of laws and regulations governing political contributions and election donations.

Chao also pointed to the Ministry of Finance for "lapses in its supervisory responsibilities," adding that the Control Yuan does not rule out censuring the ministry.