The value of Central Motion Picture Corp’s (CMPC) assets were undervalued by more than NT$2 billion (US$64.33 million at the current exchange rate), the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee said on Sunday.
CMPC had assets valued at NT$11.8 billion when it was designated an affiliate of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Oct. 9 last year, but this did not include assets such as movies filmed in Taiwan, which alone are valued at more than NT$1 billion, committee spokeswoman Shih Chin-fang (施錦芳) said.
KMT affiliate Central Investment Co undersold its CMPC stake at NT$65 per share, but they are valued at closer to NT$100 per share, Shih said.
The committee is preparing to reassign the company’s ill-gotten assets as national property and to recover the value of properties it has sold, she said.
The KMT’s sale of CMPC and Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC) are inseparably connected to former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), she said, adding that questions remain over why BCC’s channels were sold to BCC chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), despite there being other prospective buyers.
The KMT operated BCC throughout the Martial Law period using public funds to pay for operational costs, land and other expenses, she said.
The KMT also took over the facilities of Taiwan Housou Kyoukai after the Japanese colonial era, she added.
In the 1980s, BCC began selling properties in New Taipei City’s Sanchong (三重), Banciao (板橋) and Jhonghe (中和) districts, collectively valued at more than NT$1 billion, Shih said.
However, BCC could not have afforded to buy the properties, so the money must have come from public funds, she said.
Also, Central Investment Co’s sale of its BCC holdings must have had KMT approval, Shih said.
The committee would examine the situation further before determining whether BCC would be listed as a KMT affiliate, she said.
The committee had not yet opened a case on China Television Co (CTV), as its assets are comparatively limited, Shih said.
Moreover, it has not found transaction data that it would need for an investigation, she said.
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