A Greater Tainan councilor from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) accused of embezzling charitable donations has sued a popular tabloid and a lawmaker, claiming they had masterminded a scheme to destroy his reputation after a tightly fought primary campaign.
Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) is fighting allegations that he illegally raised millions of New Taiwan dollars in donations for Typhoon Morakot victims and failed to disclose how the money was spent, a violation of regulations on charitable giving.
Addressing local media yesterday, Wang denied he had personally asked for the donations, but said the NT$3.25 million (US$112,500) collected was given by supporters to his team of volunteers that spent a year in the disaster-stricken area.
“The amount we spent on disaster victims that was clearly documented, signed for and seen by witnesses, was already more than NT$3.29 million,” Wang said. “We absorbed ... other undocumented relief efforts.”
The proceedings came a month after Wang narrowly defeated DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) in a legislative nomination race. The results were bitterly contested, with each accusing the other of slander.
While Wang’s nomination is unlikely to be affected for the time being, this could change following an investigation by the party’s clean government committee.
Acting DPP chairperson Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the DPP would “respect the findings.”
The Chinese-language Next Magazine unveiled the -investigation against Wang on Wednesday, -citing government documents that showed how the five-term councilor failed to apply for government approval before announcing the charity account.
The account number, the magazine wrote, was later shared with the account Wang used to solicit for political donations. Millions of NT dollars in donations were also transferred to his wife’s personal account, it wrote.
Under regulations on charitable giving, donations cannot be accepted through personal accounts, and designated charity accounts must also be cleared by government agencies within the week, which Wang is alleged to have failed to do.
The Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday confirmed an investigation was under way and that Wang, who has not been charged, would be summoned to provide an explanation.
Standing outside the office, Wang called the case “politically motivated” and said he welcomed the investigation, adding he was eager to show prosecutors his “clearly labeled and signed” documents.
Neither he nor his wife sought the donations, which were given by supporters in recognition of his work in disaster areas over more than a year, he said, denying the efforts violated regulations.
“I can’t accept these allegations against me,” he said, adding he had filed charges against Lee and several media outlets.
“All this slander, these accusations and this investigation only have one source: Lee,” he said.
Countering Wang’s claims, Lee said he would not respond directly to the lawsuit.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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