Suspect in vote-buying scam meets with prosecutors

The former chairman of the Chiayi City Farmers' Association, Hsiao Teng-shih (蕭登獅), yesterday morning voluntarily met with prosecutors from Taiwan's task force investigating "black gold" in Taichung County.

At approximately 5pm yesterday he was sent to the Taichung district prosecutor's office to submit to a deposition.

Hsiao recently became embroiled in a case of alleged vote buying in the April 25 Taiwan Provincial Farmers' Association (台灣省農會) election.

Several DPP legislators have accused the KMT leadership -- including Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), Legislative Yuan speaker and KMT vice chairman, and Chao Shou-po (趙守博), director of the KMT's Organization and Development Committee -- of offering Hsiao NT$40 million to persuade members of the association's reform faction to support the opposition party's candidates. The offer was refused, even after it later rose as high as NT$150 million.

Prosecutors suspect, however, that Hsiao was involved in buying votes to support the newly-elected chairman of the association, Ku Yuan-chun (古源俊), a member of the reform faction.

He is also suspected of masterminding a plot in which 11 recently elected directors of the association were detained by the threat of violence. The directors were allegedly held against their will in a crude floating shack on the Tsengwen reservoir for several days, ordered to vote for Ku in the election, and finally taken to a temple where they had to swear an oath on the lives of their children and grandchildren that no details of their "trip" or any attempt to influence their voting would be revealed.

Ku has been held in custody by prosecutors since late April, and after being confronted with evidence gathered through surveillance, has admitted his involvement in the reservoir scheme.

Initial reports, however, said Hsiao denied involvement in any illegal activity during his meetings with prosecutors.

He also claimed that he could provide evidence from his home surveillance cameras of the bribery attempts by Wang and Chao.

DPP legislators alleged that the KMT held a meeting to discuss the matter on April 23, when KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) decided that the party had to win the election "at any price."

On the same night, they alleged, Hsieh asked a friend to visit Hsiao to win his support through bribery.