Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung’s (林佳龍) fortune has grown to more than NT$300 million (US$9.62 million), an increase of NT$135 million from last year’s declaration, according to the latest civil servant assets declaration published by the Control Yuan last week.
Lin’s savings grew by NT$68.76 million to NT$145.76 million, while the value of his securities rose NT$66.86 million to NT$154.08 million over the past 17 months, the Control Yuan reported.
Many of the declared properties belong to Lin’s wife, Liao Wan-ju (廖婉如), a daughter of former Chi Mei Electronics Corp chairman Frank Liao (廖錦祥) and niece of Chimei Group founder Shi Wen-long (許文龍).
Also listed on Lin’s declaration are a plot of land and two properties in Taipei and a property in New Taipei City. The Taipei properties are registered in his wife’s name, the report showed.
The savings and 29 insurance policies are shared between Lin, his wife and their two children, the report said.
The declared securities are registered in the names of his wife and children, who hold shares of Chimei Innolux Corp, Lian Ci Development Corp, Chi Lin Technology Co, Taiwan Solar Energy Corp and others — mostly subsidiaries of the Chimei Group.
Lin also declared NT$500,000 in cash, a drop of NT$570,000 from last year, the report said.
While Lin, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, did not comment on his fortune, Taichung City Information Bureau Director-General Cho Kuan-ting (卓冠廷) said that Lin’s asset growth was mainly due to the Liao family’s business ventures and the collection of redistributed properties from a liquidated company, whose shares Liao Wan-ju held.
Lin has Liao Wan-ju handle his assets and has honestly declared his properties, Cho said, adding that Lin is an upstanding politician who can withstand public scrutiny.
Liao Wan-ju’s savings growth was largely due to the dividend yields of her stock holdings, while the appreciation of her securities could be tied to the dissolution of Yu Nung Investment Co last year, which redistributed some securities it held to Liao Wan-ju, Cho said.
That accounted for the disappearance of her original possession of Yu Nung Investment’s share in Lin’s property declaration this year, Cho said.
Liao Wan-ju’s portfolio selection was tied to her family’s business planning, including the merger of Chi Mei Electronics Corp with Innolux Corp and the liquidation of Yu Nung Investment, Cho said.
The two properties in Taipei are an apartment and a parking space first mortgaged 16 years ago, when the couple were working in Taipei, and the Lin family is still repaying the mortgage, Cho said.
The property listed in New Taipei City is a niche in a columbarium that stores the urn of Lin’s father, not a “mansion” as some had reported, Cho said.
That the Lin family rented their residence in Taichung without owning an apartment sparked controversy when Lin was campaigning for mayor last year.
Cho said that living in a rented property is not inferior to owning an apartment, as both are viable housing options.
Chiayi Mayor Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) declared NT$37.33 million in savings, NT$1.5 million in securities, NT$1.36 million in business ventures, 17 plots of land and four properties, the report said.
Twu’s assets grew by NT$14.37 million in savings and dropped by NT$1.08 million in securities from last year, with the acquisition of four plots and one property.
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