PFP links Lee to missing security funds

People First Party (PFP) lawmakers said yesterday they have obtained information indicating that a National Security Bureau (NSB) account set up during Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) presidency was intended for "clandestine purposes."

The PFP lawmakers said that money from the account was used to make overseas political donations and finance surveillance operations against political rivals.

According to PFP lawmaker Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄), foreign politicians who had received the money included a high-ranking Japanese government official and several US senators.

The donations to the US senators were part of the Lee administration's effort to lobby politicians to speak favorably of Taiwan's national leaders, Liu said.

Liu said the information came from highly reliable sources.

The PFP broadened its allegations, one day after it had alleged that the bureau has channeled up to NT$500 million from the secret account to the Taiwan Research Institute (TRI), of which Lee is the honorary chairman.

Part of the money, according to the PFP, was later used to finance the operations of political groups affiliated with Lee, which included the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and Taiwan Advocates.

Money from the account was allegedly amassed from the surpluses of the bureau's annual budgets since 1994 and became the "private stash" of a small minority of high-ranking government officials.

The PFP has estimated that the money totals at least NT$4 billion including bank interest.

National Security Bureau officials, while confirming the existence of the money, say there is only a balance of NT$3 billion and that the account has been frozen since the exposure of an alleged embezzlement case involving the bureau's former chief cashier, Colonel Liu Kuan-chun (劉冠軍), in 2000.

According to PFP lawmakers, National Security Bureau director-general Tsai Chao-ming (蔡朝明) had admitted during a recent closed-door session that the bureau has funded the TRI roughly NT$20 million a year for research projects and that the funds come from a legal budget earmarked for "intelligence research and applications."

Tsai, however, refused to disclose details concerning the funds, on the grounds that it would compromise the country's intelligence services.

Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), convener of the PFP legislative caucus, said spending the funds is in violation of the Budget Law and Audit Law.

Chou likened the case to the corruption scandal involving the purchase of six French-made Lafayette-class frigates, urging justice and investigative authorities to conduct a thorough probe.

Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), chief executive of the DPP legislative caucus, said that the existence of the account highlights the corrupt maneuvering of Taiwan's former administrations.

Tsai said the DPP supports institutionalizing the funds to ensure transparency.

The TRI yesterday firmly denied the PFP's allegation that it has received other funds, in addition to funding for research projects. It demanded the PFP present evidence to back up its allegations.

Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英), founder and president of the institute, confirmed that the institute's Division of Strategic and International Studies has accepted research projects contracted by the National Security Bureau and has served as a think tank to the bureau since the division's establishment in 1997.