Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office officials on Wednesday permitted former Taipei Department of Finance commissioner Lee Sush-der (李述德) to return home, but placed him under house arrest and banned him from leaving the country.
They also said they would not rule out summoning former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for further questioning in connection with the Taipei Dome corruption case.
Prosecutors on Wednesday questioned Ma for more than nine hours, as he had been listed as a defendant along with Lee, Farglory Group (遠雄集團) founder Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄), former Farglory vice president Tsai Chung-i (蔡宗易) and architect Liu Pei-sen (劉培森), the original designer of the project.
Photo: Chien Li-chung, Taipei Times
After 14 hours of questioning, Lee at about 11pm was the last person among the five to leave the prosecutors’ office.
It was reported that prosecutors have gathered evidence indicating that then-Taipei mayor Ma in 2004 might have colluded with Chao to improperly favor Farglory to win the Taipei Dome contract, the terms of which would allow the firm to reap considerable financial benefits.
Prosecutors said that after cross-checking the statements given by Ma and the other four principal figures, Ma is likely to be summoned for further questioning.
During the contract negotiation process for the Taipei Dome build-operate-transfer project in September 2004, there were reportedly several crucial meetings between the Taipei City Government and Farglory executives.
Lee reportedly told prosecutors that Ma met with Chao in September 2004, when Ma allegedly agreed to grant a waiver from paying royalties on the complex.
The investigation is to focus on the details of what transpired in the meetings between them.
Prosecutors said that the royalty waiver would have cost the city about NT$400 million (US$13.2 million) per year for the duration of the 50-year contract for the dome complex, which was to include a baseball stadium, movie theaters, department store, hotel and office buildings.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS