Prosecutors yesterday searched offices of accounting firms and other companies linked to Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) presidential campaign amid allegations of fraud, while TPP Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) resigned from the party’s Central Standing Committee.
Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office and Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau personnel collected material at seven locations in and around Taipei, including at marketing firm Muko (木可行銷公關), accounting firm Jing Hua CPA (精華會計師事務所), OCT Entertainment Co (時樂) and Neo Creative Marketing Production Co (尼奧創意行銷).
They also searched the residences of Tai Li-ling (戴利玲), who is registered as the owner of OCT Entertainment and Neo Creative Marketing; Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), chief financial officer for Ko’s presidential campaign; and Lee’s sister, Muko director Lee Wen-chuan (李文娟).
Photo: CNA
Tuanmu Cheng (端木正), an accountant at Jing Hua who was contracted by the TPP, Lee Wen-tsung, Lee Wen-chuan and staff at the companies were questioned.
A TPP spokesperson said that investigators did not search TPP headquarters or Ko’s office, adding that the party voluntarily handed over six boxes of material.
Earlier in the day, Huang resigned as a TPP Central Standing Committee member, although she would remain as one of the party’s eight legislators-at-large.
After the committee met yesterday afternoon, party officials told reporters that she had resigned.
Ko had approved her decision to step down from the party’s top decisionmaking body, the officials said.
Huang, Lee Wen-tsung and Tuanmu would have their cases scrutinized by the TPP Central Evaluation Committee, the officials said.
Later in the afternoon, Huang and a lawyer went to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office to file a request to investigate alleged wrongdoing by Tuanmu.
Tuanmu and Jing Hua earlier said that they had conducted their “auditing services for the TPP in accordance with all legal requirements.”
The firm in a statement denied claims of misconduct, errors or falsification of records.
Tuanmu said in the statement that he welcomes an investigation by prosecutors and the Control Yuan, adding that it would find him innocent of the party’s accusations.
Ko, TPP Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) and TPP caucus director Vicky Chen (陳智菡) on Saturday held a news conference after allegations of fraud, false declarations and other issues were reported.
Political parties that contest presidential and legislative elections are required to submit their financial records to the Control Yuan.
Ko said mistakes were made over the reporting of political donations and campaign finances, while Lee Wen-tsung made a public apology, saying that he had failed to properly check accounts and reports.
Mistakes were made in 17 political donation declarations totaling about NT$18 million (US$557,207), the party said.
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday criticized the nuclear energy referendum scheduled for Saturday next week, saying that holding the plebiscite before the government can conduct safety evaluations is a denial of the public’s right to make informed decisions. Lai, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), made the comments at the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting at its headquarters in Taipei. ‘NO’ “I will go to the ballot box on Saturday next week to cast a ‘no’ vote, as we all should do,” he said as he called on the public to reject the proposition to reactivate the decommissioned
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
EXCEPTIONS: Some people could be allowed to reclaim citizenship for humanitarian reasons or because of their contributions to the nation, the interior ministry said Taiwan would soon unveil new rules banning Taiwanese residents of China from reclaiming their citizenship if they participated in Beijing’s propaganda activities, the Ministry of the Interior said on Monday. The measures were drafted following President William Lai’s (賴清德) March 13 directive that the government counter China’s espionage and influence campaigns aimed at undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty, the ministry said in a preview of the rules. The changes would affect Taiwanese who lost their citizenship after becoming permanent residents of China or obtaining passports issued by China, it said. Under the measures, former Taiwanese nationals living in China who had made statements denying the
RSS