Independent Taipei mayoral candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday expressed sadness that prosecutors questioned his National Taiwan University Hospital assistant, Liu Ju-yi (劉如意), who helped him manage a shared bank account belonging to a surgical intensive care unit headed by Ko.
“I was naive when I first decided to run in the election — I thought it would be just about me, but it turns out that my assistants, the hospital president and all my other colleagues have been affected,” Ko told reporters after a campaign event.
“Now even people who invited me to deliver speeches are being questioned,” he said in response to a question about the prosecutors’ questioning of Liu on Wednesday afternoon that left her in tears.
“As her former boss, of course I feel sorry about what she is going through and I feel upset,” Ko said. “It seems that there is a long way to go before Taiwan becomes a civilized nation.”
Liu was questioned because Ko has been accused by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) and KMT mayoral candidate Sean Lien’s (連勝文) campaign of using the hospital account for bribes, money laundering and tax evasion.
The hospital, Ko’s surgical and research team and Liu came under investigation by prosecutors, while the hospital president as well as its auditor-general were questioned by legislators.
“This will certainly have some negative impacts on the hospital and will make people hesitant to make donations to the hospital,” the physician-turned-politician said. “But at least now I can see that these are some things that I want to change.”
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