The Taipei District Court yesterday heard a lawsuit by an interior designer against the son of former National Police Admin-istration chief Ding Yuan-chin (丁原進).
The designer, Ko Wen-cheng (柯文正), sued Ding Chao-chi (丁肇基) accusing the latter of failing to pay more than NT$4 million in interior design and decoration fees for his work at the Dings' controversial Vision City (世界山莊) villa.
Ding did not appear in court nor was he represented by an attorney at the hearing.
The dispute came to light earlier this month and led to allegations that the former police force head is living a life of luxury well beyond his means.
Ding's attorney, Chiani Lee (李采霓), said the designer failed to accomplish the agreed-upon tasks or win the Dings' approval for the work that was completed.
"The work had many defects, and my client twice asked them to do it properly, but they failed to meet these demands," Lee said.
Despite the flaws in the work completed, she said, Ding has paid NT$3.24 million of the originally agreed-upon NT$4 million.
"But they changed the project without consulting us and inflated the price to NT$8 million," Lee said.
But Ko told a different story, saying every piece of the work was carried out according to the contract.
"I asked them to approve the work, but they did not do so and just moved in and changed the lock," Ko said.
Taipei County Councilor Chin Chieh-shou (金介壽) appeared outside the court to support Ko. He said many business people offered to provide free furniture to Ding Yuan-jinn when he was in office.
"But they withdrew their offers when Ding stepped down. And that's why the Dings have failed to pay the money," he said.
The Control Yuan last Tuesday started an investigation into Ding's financial affairs and the circumstances surrounding the purchase of his residences.
Ding Yuan-chin was also charged last week by Taipei City Councilors with owing NT$24 million in fines and taxes for gifts he says he used to purchase an upscale villa in the Wenshan District of Taipei City.
Ding is the former head of the National Police Administration and previous chief of the Taipei City Police Headquarters.
Ding claimed on Tuesday that, to buy a house in Vision City worth NT$38 million, he gathered NT$6 million from his only son and borrowed NT$20 million from one of his "good friends."
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
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
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
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