The Zanadau scandal took yet another twist yesterday as a leading financier and former candidate for the finance minister was accused of malfeasance in connection with the ill-fated project.
At a press conference in Taipei, Key Zanadau Development Corp shareholder Su Hui-chen (
Hu, now chairman of China Development Industrial Asset Management Corp, angrily dismissed the charge as an utter lie and vowed to take legal action against Su.
Su, who has implicated important politicians and bankers in an intricate influence-peddling scheme, told reporters yesterday she paid Hu and his friend Cheng Shih-hao (鄭士豪) generous commissions between 1996 and 1998.
She said she turned to former KMT business chief Liu Tai-ying (
"Hu had better quit thinking he can get away with it by denying his actions," she said.
"The tactic has proved to be of little use to Liu."
Su said Liu and his agent Lee Ming-che (
According to Su, Cheng approached her in 1995 saying he could help Zanadau raise capital and secure bank loans because of his close ties with Hu.
Cheng, then member of Advanced Semiconductor Engineering board of directors, reportedly demanded 20 percent of Zanadau's Department Store shares.
Su said she agreed to the deal because Cheng boasted both Advanced Semiconductor Engineering and Hu's bank would invest in the Zanadau project -- an aborted plan to build a giant shopping mall in Kaohsiung County.
She claimed she inked a pact with Hu himself on June 12, 1997 and transferred the shares at issue to Cheng's account on June 25 of that year.
"I was forced to ask Liu for help after Cheng and Hu failed to make good on their investment plan," the businesswoman said.
On Cheng's advice, Su allegedly paid Cheng and Hu NT$18 million each to avoid angering Hu. Liu and Hu, though then chairman and president respectively of the China Development Industrial Bank, reportedly did not get along.
"I made the payments in early 1998, with Hu's share in cash delivered by Cheng," Su said, adding she awarded a NT$2-billion construction contract to a firm later recommended by Hu. She said Cheng and Hu then extracted NT$180 million worth of shares from the construction company in return.
Su challenged Hu to take a lie-detector test, saying he and Cheng are more cunning than Liu and Lee.
Denying any wrongdoing, Hu linked Su's charges to his refusal to grant bank loans.
"I have not taken a penny from Su," he said.
"She fabricated the charges in an apparent bid to take revenge for my refusing to secure loans for her."
Hu was considered a key contender for the finance minister post in February when Premier Yu Shyi-kun reshuffled the Cabinet.
Going a step further, Cheng said through a lawyer that Su was using the media to carry out financial blackmail.
Both men said they would press libel charges against Su.
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