The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) last year raised NT$84.3 million (US$2.61 million) in donations and spent no money on campaigning, the latest Control Yuan audits on the campaign finances of Taiwanese political parties yesterday revealed.
The audit report was published a day after police searched the offices of accounting firms and other companies linked to TPP Chairman Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) presidential campaign as part of a probe into alleged corruption and false reporting of campaign finances dating back several years.
Last year, the TPP raised NT$46.6 million in individual donations and NT$30.9 million from businesses while spending NT$71 million, including NT$37 million in personnel costs and NT$28.1 million in operational costs, the report said.
Photo: Fang Wei-li, Taipei Times
The TPP records showed no campaign expenditures and a net income of NT$13.6 million, it said.
Last year, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) raised NT$116 million in donations, including NT$74.4 million in individual donations and NT$39.3 million from businesses, the report showed.
The DPP spent NT$142 million last year, including NT$63.4 million in the party’s campaign expenses, NT$33.5 million in contributions to the campaigns of candidates the party nominated or endorsed, NT$20.9 million in personnel costs, and NT$20.2 million in operational costs, it said.
The DPP spent NT$25.9 million more than it raised, it said.
Last year, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) raised NT$152.6 million in donations, including NT$101.2 million in individual donations and NT$50 million in business donations, the report showed.
The KMT spent NT$147 million, including NT$23.2 million in campaign expenditures, NT$15.8 million in contributions to its candidates’ campaigns, NT$55.8 million in personnel costs and NT$44.6 million in operational costs, it said.
The KMT had a surplus of NT$5.8 million, it said.
TPP Deputy Secretary-General Osmar Hsu (許甫) said that the party did not calculate total campaign expenditures separately, and that such costs were included in the operational spending of the party’s departments.
Authorities on Monday embarked on audits to investigate allegations concerning false reporting of political expenses, after the financial report on political donations for Ko and TPP vice presidential candidate Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) was published on the Control Yuan’s Web site on July 16, the Control Yuan said in a news release on Tuesday.
The TPP has admitted errors in its financial records. The party allegedly did not report the income from ticket sales for a fundraising concert before the election. On Tuesday, it filed a request to investigate alleged wrongdoing by its accountant Tuanmu Cheng (端木正).
The Political Donations Act (政治獻金法) stipulates that a party’s prospective candidates could be fined NT$60,000 to NT$1.2 million for failing to record income and expenses, and provide receipts appropriately, the agency said, adding that donations which were not deposited into a dedicated account could be confiscated.
Reporting of political donation expenditure without relevant vouchers or documents would constitute an intentional false declaration and could also be fined NT$60,000 to NT$1.2 million, it added.
During the audit process, if an accountant is found to have contravened regulations, he could be punished in accordance with Article 63 of the Certified Public Accountant Act, it said.
The case could be sent to prosecuting authorities for further investigation in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法) if other criminal suspicions are found, it added.
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