Taiwan Cement Corp chairman Leslie Koo (辜成允) yesterday told the Taipei District Court that he had never contacted former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) about a land deal in which Wu is alleged to have accepted kickbacks.
He and former Hsinchu Science Park chief James Lee (李界木) were called for questioning at the request of the defense attorneys. The defense questioned them regarding the 2004 sale of a plot of land in Longtan (龍潭), Taoyuan County.
Prosecutors allege that in a meeting at the Presidential Office between former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Lee and other government officials, Chen proposed that the council first rent the plot of land, then buy it and eventually include it as part of a science park.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The idea was for Wu to collect NT$400 million (US$12 million) in bribes as part of a deal between the government-run Hsinchu Science Park and Dayu Development Corp, prosecutors allege.
Koo, who was part of Dayu’s management at the time of the land deal, was questioned about the purpose of the NT$400 million, which he said was paid as commission, and not bribes.
When asked by Wu’s lawyer about the conditions under which the commission would be paid, Koo said: “If the Longtan land could be sold by Jan. 7, 2004.”
Koo said he was in a hurry to sell the land because he needed to liquidize his assets to save Dayu from bankruptcy, as it was heavily in debt at the time.
Koo said he was introduced to Wu’s friends Tsai Ming-chieh (蔡銘杰) and Tsai Ming-che (蔡銘哲) by his nephew, former Chinatrust Financial Holding Co vice chairman Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒).
Although Leslie Koo said he did not know whether Wu played a role in helping Tsai Ming-che strike the deal, he testified that it was his “impression” that the Tsai brothers were close to Wu, whom Tsai Ming-che referred to as “big sis.”
Prosecutors allege that because Tsai Ming-che was a close friend to the former first lady, he had easy access to the presidential residence.
Prosecutors say Tsai Ming-che helped the Chen family solicit bribes and lined his pockets with a portion of the money.
Leslie Koo denied ever contacting the former first lady about the Longtan land deal, saying he had only once paid a visit to Wu at the presidential residence, in 2005, to thank the Chen family for expressing condolences when his father, late Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫), passed away.
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