Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairperson candidate Lee Hsin (李新) yesterday urged KMT members to join him in his efforts to uncover party assets that have been secretly pocketed by “a select few,” as he drew attention to a decade-old controversy involving the KMT’s sale of Central Motion Pictures Corp (CMPC, 中央電影公司).
Lee made the remarks during a directorial handover ceremony at the Taoyuan branch of the KMT’s Department of Youth Affairs, which was also attended by two other KMT chairperson hopefuls:former deputy legislative speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) and KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖).
“When the KMT liquidated CMPC, the firm was actually sold for NT$2.2 billion [US$67.65 million at current exchange rates], but party officials in charge of finances wrote NT$800 million in the contract. The remaining NT$1.4 billion was merely marked as a kickback and never appeared in the KMT’s account book,” Lee said.
Photo: CNA
The case was only the “tip of the iceberg,” Lee said, adding that it is difficult to imagine how many other KMT assets might have also been pocketed or embezzled by a select few in a similar manner.
Lee, a Taipei City councilor, was referring to the KMT’s contentious sale of the three firms it held — CMPC, China Television Co (CTV, 中視) and Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC, 中廣公司) — to Want Want China Times Group (旺旺中時集團) subsidiary Jungli Investment Co (榮麗投資公司) in 2005, two years after an amendment to the Broadcasting and Television Act (廣播電視法) was passed barring political parties, the military and politicians from owning media outlets.
The sale had been a subject of controversy, partly because of a kickback clause in the contract for the sale of CMPC, which stated 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 buyback privileges.
Lee said a large proportion of the KMT’a assets were “clean,” because they were donated by KMT members in the form of party fees over the past decades.
“That is why I demand that these assets be returned to and equally divided between all party members,” Lee said, adding that the KMT should stop relying on its assets as if they were life support systems.
KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Lee Ming-hsien (李明賢) said the KMT’s assets have been placed in a trust with Central Investment Co (中央投資公司) and that the party respects the company’s handling of the CMPC case.
“With regard to disputes concerning the sale of CMPC, they have entered into legal proceedings. We believe Central Investment will handle the case appropriately,” Lee Ming-hsien said.
Lee Ming-hsien added that Lee Hsin failed to get his numbers right, without elaborating.
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