Citing insufficient evidence of illegal activity, the Special Investigation Division (SID) of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office yesterday announced it had closed a case involving the sale by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of China Television Co (CTV, 中視), Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC, 中廣公司) and the Central Motion Pictures Corp (CMPC, 中央電影公司).
An amendment to the Broadcasting and Television Act (廣播電視法) in 2003 barred political parties, the military and politicians from owning media outlets, prompting the KMT to sell off the three firms it held via Hua Hsia Investment Holding Co (華夏投資公司).
In 2006, then-Democratic Progressive Party chairman Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃) and other DPP members sued the KMT on charges of fraud, embezzlement and money laundering for allegedly selling the firms off cheaply.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The value of the stock exceeded NT$15.2 billion (US$506 million), but the firms were sold to China Times Group (中時集團) subsidiary Jungli Investment Co (榮麗投資公司) for NT$4 billion, Yu alleged at the time, accusing the KMT of profiting from the sale through a “kickback clause.”
The kickback clause refers to a clause in the contract for the sale of the CMPC that the KMT would receive a portion of the fees if Jungli were to sell off any real estate within three years of the purchase, as well as giving the KMT priority buy-back privileges.
The SID said yesterday that after eight years of investigation and poring through documents, financial statements, accounts and shareholder meeting records, no evidence backed the claims of illegal actions.
Despite estimating the value for the three firms at NT$15.2 billion, the purchasing company had to shoulder NT$5.3 billion in debt, it added, adding that the price of the deal was reasonable.
The SID also closed cases involving allegations that New Party cofounder Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) set up multiple dummy corporations to buy BCC shares, former CMPC president and now KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) sold the company cheaply and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who was Taipei mayor at the time of the sale, rezoned a building belonging to the KMT-affiliated Institute on Policy Research and Development (國發院) due to lack of criminal evidence.
In response to the SID’s announcement, KMT spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) said the party respected the results of the investigations, which showed that it had been honest in its dealings when liquidizing party assets.
The party would hold future liquidation of party assets to the same standards to honor Ma’s promise of “zero party assets,” he added.
However, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators accused the SID of using a national tragedy to cover up the “illegality” of the KMT’s asset sales. The lawmakers were referring to the explosions in Greater Kaohsiung last week that killed at least 28 and injured more than 300.
“The timing of the closing of these cases, during a national tragedy, is an attempt to shift the focus away from them,” DPP Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) said, adding that he would study the SID’s documents to find what it was trying to hide from the public.
DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-chin (葉宜津) asked if the SID considered the kickback clause in the deal when it concluded that the price was reasonable due to Jungli Investment having to absorb NT$5.3 billion in debt.
Additional reporting by Tseng Wei-chen
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