KMT welcomes Liu Tai-ying investigation

The KMT yesterday guardedly welcomed the ongoing probe into alleged financial irregularities by its former treasurer, Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英), in an attempt to distance itself from the era when former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) ruled the party.

"Whatever Liu did as head of KMT Business Management Committee is in the past," KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) said of the high-profile investigation into Liu's alleged financial misdeeds. "The party respects the authority of the judiciary."

Prosecutors summoned Liu, now chairman of China Development Financial Holdings Corp, for questioning on Wednesday morning over his reported mishandling of bank loans worth billions of Taiwan dollars. He was released yesterday morning.

The snowballing scandal erupted in September when Su Hui-chen (蘇惠珍), the major shareholder of the Zanadau Land Development Corp, accused Liu of bilking over NT$1 billion from her in exchange for a pledge to secure bank loans worth 10 times that amount.

The businesswoman took her case to law-enforcement officers after Liu allegedly failed to make good on his promise.

Once the most powerful money broker in Taiwan, Liu has denied any involvement in the scam, although prosecutors are holding two close aides, Lee Ming-che (李明哲) and Hsieh Sheng-fu (謝深富), in custody.

Liu, 66, was also suspected of lining his own pockets by approving questionable loans to several financially shaky companies when he oversaw KMT business affairs between 1995 and 1998.

Investigations showed the party lost all its investment of NT$939 million in the Zanadau project, a multi-purpose giant shopping mall in Kaohsiung County.

KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) declined to comment on the investigation, but a party lawmaker urged authorities not to spare any suspects.

Lee Chun-chia (李全教), KMT legislative whip, said he had materials that implicate ranking DPP officials in the Zanadau case.

"I will go ahead and disclose these materials on Monday if the Ministry of Justice keeps passing over DPP officials," he said.

Lee has accused Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) of influence-peddling during his stint as Kaohsiung County commissioner by changing the designation of the tract of farmland where the Zanadau project is located to a commercial zone to boost its worth.

The rezoning, which was completed relatively quickly, raised the value of the land by NT$4.7 billion, the lawmaker said. He insisted that since the power transfer, Liu has cut his ties to the KMT and befriended the ruling DPP instead.

Yu's mother, Yu-chen Yueh-ying (余陳月瑛), reportedly approached Lee Teng-hui in 1996 to ask the then-KMT chairman to help finance the Zanadau project.