Independent Taipei mayoral candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that he would no longer respond to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei’s (羅淑蕾) baseless corruption allegations, inviting her to file a lawsuit if she still finds his finances questionable.
“I have nothing to hide, but there are thousands of pieces of information and [Lo’s attacks] are growing intolerable; I just cannot spend all my time answering your questions since you are asking about this and that everyday,” Ko said in response to reporters’ questions about Lo’s latest allegations.
The KMT legislator’s most recent claims relate to donations from private enterprises being deposited into a bank account shared by all members of National Taiwan University Hospital’s surgical intensive care unit (SICU).
“I’ve publicized everything — my personal bank account, my income, my campaign bank account and all the hospital’s bank accounts related to me,” Ko said.
“If you have questions about it, come to my office with a letter of authorization from [KMT Taipei mayoral candidate] Sean Lien (連勝文) and I would let you check everything. If you think something is questionable, then sue me in court. I do not want to be in this war of words with you,” he added.
In a press conference yesterday morning, Lo questioned the source of a NT$200,000 (US$6,600) monthly donation from private enterprises into the SICU’s shared account and accused Ko of having altered information in his bank statements.
When Ko publicized his bank information at a press conference last week, he said that when he was invited to speak at private companies or medical schools, he was paid tens of thousands — up to 1 million — in New Taiwan dollars.
Instead of asking the hosts to wire the money into his personal accounts, Ko said that he asked them to transfer the funds into the SICU’s shared account, so that they could be used to sponsor research projects for his team members.
In other developments, Ko announced yesterday that he would republish his book, Power of the White (白色的力量), after editing out parts that have been criticized as discriminatory to women.
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