Minister of Justice Cheng Ding-nan (
"Where are the savings you pledged to help create after the transfer of power?" PFP lawmaker Shen Chih-hwei (沈智慧) asked Cheng during a meeting of the Justice Committee.
Shen was referring to Chen's statements during the 2000 presidential campaign.
Chen had promised that the government could save at least NT$500 billion in annual spending if the DPP came to power.
The minister replied that law-enforcement officers have uncovered many corruption cases in the last two years, but the money saved could not be directly translated into tax dollars in the budget plan.
"What I meant then was that [without corruption] government agencies could save a total of NT$500 billion when carrying out public construction projects," Cheng said. "The money saved in this way will be better utilized rather than stay untouched in the state treasury."
He pointed out that between July 2000 and August this year, a total of 3,449 suspects were prosecuted on corruption charges with sus-pected corruption money amounting to NT$10.9 billion.
"In the absence of empirical evidence, I cannot say exactly how much money has been saved in this manner though," the minister said, triggering a laugh from the floor.
PFP Legislator Lin Cheng-I (
Earlier this year, major Zanadau shareholder Su Hui-chen (蘇惠珍) alleged she was told by former top KMT business manager Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英) and his agent, Lee Ming-che (李明哲), to pay them NT$10 billion in exchange for a bogus pledge to broker bank loans.
Cheng said investigators are probing the matter and that the effort will continue until the truth is learned. "We will prosecute all those guilty of wrongdoing, regardless of their political status," the minister said.
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