Prosecutors on Tuesday requested that the Taipei District Court impose the maximum sentence against former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for allegedly illegally profiting from the sale of three media companies owned by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) which resulted in the party losing NT$7.2 billion (US$258.56 million at current exchange rate).
Ma and the other defendants in the case yesterday released statements denying any wrongdoing, saying they made the deals to dispose of the KMT’s assets and did not derive any personal financial gain.
Ma, Wang Hai-ching (汪海清), former general manager of the KMT’s Central Investment Co, and Chang Che-chen (張哲琛), the company’s former chairman, were indicted in July 2018 for breach of trust under the Criminal Code, contravening the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) and other charges in connection with the sale of three media companies owned by the KMT: Central Motion Picture Corp, China Television Co and Broadcasting Corp of China from 2005 to 2007 when Ma was KMT chairman.
Photo: CNA
In their closing statement, prosecutors said Ma played the leading role in setting the values for the sale of the three media companies and by selecting which buyers to deal with, had incurred an accumulated NT$7.2 billion loss for the KMT.
“However, during the investigation, Ma repeatedly denied knowing details of the negotiation and the transactions, while setting aside large amounts of money for his legal defense fund, preparing to fight the litigation in court,” the statement said.
“Before coming under judicial investigation, it was found that Ma had already conferred with his lawyers numerous times to practice trials, simulating the questions he would face in court to work out ways to evade prosecution and conceal the illicit proceedings,” it said. “These actions amounted to conducting meetings ‘for collusion in testimony’ and to hide details of the deals, aiming to deceive the judges.”
During the trial, Ma used improper terms taken from financial, accounting and other professional fields to misrepresent information and cover up his illegal activities, the statement said.
“Ma, along with Wang Hai-ching and Chang Che-chen, had shown disdain and had an uncooperative attitude through the investigation and the trial. The prosecution therefore requests that the court impose the maximum sentence to serve as a warning for society and that it confiscate the illegal profits made by the defendants,” it said.
“I have always abided by the law and steered clear of corruption through my working career. When I held office as KMT chairman, I did not take one cent [from the party], did not receive kickbacks from the buyers. It was my duty to ensure the KMT derived the benefits and there was no illegality,” Ma said in a statement
It was an “improper indictment” and the prosecution had made false accusations, Ma said.
Chang said that in 2005, because of a law that prohibited political parties and the military from owning media outlets, the KMT had to sell the three companies.
“It was done to conform with the law and if we did not act, then the KMT would have suffered a financial loss. There was no breach of trust, no collusion with buyers and we did not sell the companies at artificially low prices,” Chang said.
In the same case, former KMT deputy secretary-general Alex Tsai (蔡正元), his wife, Queena Hung (洪菱霙), and her father, Hung Hsin-hsing (洪信行), were also charged with embezzlement, breach of trust, money laundering, contravening the Business Entity Accounting Act (商業會計法) and other offenses.
The Taipei District Court set a date of Oct. 27 to announce a ruling in the case.
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