The head of a prestigious Taipei hospital has suddenly resigned his post over allegations of corruption and cronyism.
Chang Mau-song (張茂松) quit his job as the dean of Taipei Veterans General Hospital last evening. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Cabinet's Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen (VACRS) -- the goverment agency that is responsible for the hospital.
Deputy Dean Lee Liang-hsiung (
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The drama began yesterday morning when DPP legislators Lee Chen-nan (李鎮楠) and Charles Chiang (江昭儀) held a press conference to accuse Chang of embezzlement.
According to Lee and Chiang's accusations, Chang was the only person at the hospital who had access to a secret NT$300 millionfund called the "Jung-kwang Fund" (
"Chang should explain why, what, who, where and how he was dealing with the fund. The most important thing is that he should explain to the public whether the money is legal," Lee said at a press conference yesterday.
Lee and Chiang's also accused Chang of accepting bribes from medical equipment and drug manufacturers. In addition, they charged, Chang had hired a crony to handle the money for him.
According to the lawmakers, the hospital's chief accountant Yu Ping-tung (
Although Chang had not repsonded publicy to the accusations, the hospital swiftly issued a press release answering the charges.
The statement said that officials from the VACRS had begun their investigation of the issue and would try to find out if Chang is involved in any illegal deals.
The statement also denied that the Jung-kwang Fund was some kind of secret program.
"It was a fund established by our founder Lu Chi-teh (
As for Chang allegedly accepting bribes from medical-equipment manufacturers, the press release said that the money in question was actually donations from those manufacturers and that the money was used by the hospital for medical research purposes.
"Every single penny was registered in our account book, which is retrievable," the press release said.
The press release did not, however, explain whether Yu's promotion was a result of Chang's favoritism.
News of Chang's resignation came shortly after the hospital's announcement had been made public.
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