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KMT calls on DPP `hospital fraud' pair to quit, refund cash

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday called on the two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators charged with health insurance fraud to quit the party and return the money they are alleged to have taken within three months.

DPP legislators Peter Lin (林進興) and Chiu Yeong-jen (邱永仁) were suspended from the party on Wednesday soon after they were indicted by the Tainan District Public Prosecutor's Office for health insurance fraud.

Prosecutors charged Lin, owner of the Peter Lin Hospital in Kaohsiung, with defrauding the Bureau of National Health Insurance of NT$190 million (US$5.8 million) by making false insurance claims, and Chiu, who runs the Yeong-jen Hospital, also in Kaohsiung, of making NT$110 million through similar means.

The two legislators could receive five-year prison terms if found guilty.

"The bureau should apply to the court for provisional seizure of their property. If the two legislators fail to return the money, the DPP should take full responsibility," KMT caucus whip Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛) said yesterday.

DPP caucus members agreed that the party hadn't gone far enough when disciplining the two legislators, with caucus whips Chen Chin-Jun (陳景峻) and Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) asking for them to be expelled.

"There are very negative connotations to this issue -- while the health insurance bureau remains heavily in debt, two DPP legislators are busy defrauding it. Will the public be willing to accept just a suspension?" Chen said.

Meanwhile, Hou An Hospital, a hospital in Tainan owned by DPP Legislator Hou Shui-sheng (侯水盛) has also been accused of similar health insurance fraud.

The Tainan District Prosecutors Office sent police into the hospital on Wednesday. Officers confiscated patient's medical records and issued three of the hospital's nursing staff with subpoenas.

Hou yesterday protested the actions of the police, accusing them of cooking up charges against him before having any evidence of fraud.
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