Ex-chief of police in spotlight over purchase of house

A Taipei City councilor has accused one of Taiwan's most prominent former police chiefs of living beyond his means and has demanded an explanation.

New Party Taipei City Councilor Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元) said that Ding Yuan-chin (丁原進) -- former head of the National Police Administration and previous chief of the Taipei City Police Headquarters -- purchased an upscale villa in Taipei's Wenshan District at a price much lower than its market value at the time.

The city councilor alleged that the preferential treatment given to Ding shaved NT$16.1 million off the price of the house.

Lee also claimed that Ding has refused to pay an interior decorator NT$4.7 million in redecoration expenses -- a sum which is now seven months overdue.

While Ding was unavailable to comment, his son, Ding Chao-chi (丁肇基), dismissed the accusations yesterday.

Lee, who made the allegation at the city council yesterday morning, said that his own investigation showed that in 1999 Ding paid only half of the market price to buy the 14th and 15th floor of the 16-story Universal Villa (世界山莊) building in Mucha, Wenshan District.

"While the unit price of the villa cost about NT$350,000 per ping at that time, Ding spent only NT$200,000 per ping. In other words, it cost Ding only NT$21.4 million for the 107-ping, two-story house," Lee said.

If the price had not been lowered it should have cost Ding NT$37.5. million, Lee said, adding that it seemed suspicious for a civil servant, earning a modest salary, to buy a house with NT$21.4 million in cash.

"I call on Ding to offer us an explanation about his source of funding. Did he or did he not accept any preferential treatment from [construction tycoon] Ong Da-ming (翁大銘)," he said.

Ong is the CEO of the Hualon Corp (華隆集團) and an old friend of Ding. The group is one of the investors who helped build the housing complex, which was completed in 1996.

Ding's son denied that the apartment had been purchased at a lower price because of his father's connections with Ong.

"I don't see the necessity of offering an explanation to the public about how we managed to purchase the house," he said.

Lee said he brought up the issue of unpaid design expenses at the request of Ding's interior designer, Ko Wen-cheng (柯文正).

Producing detailed documentation of the project yesterday, Ko said that Ding has paid only about NT$3 million out of the total bill of NT$8 million, which was due at the end of last year.

Ding Chao-chi, however, said that the original quote they agreed upon was NT$4.5 million, but that the bill was later inflated to NT$7.8 million.

"We've already paid NT$3 million, but he's been asking us to pay NT$4 million more while the project is not even complete," he said.

According to Ko, the marble floor laid in the living room, kitchen, and restrooms was the most expensive item, accounting for NT$4.3 million. Two imported jacuzzies also carried a price tag of NT$175,000 apiece.