Critics yesterday questioned Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) about her sources of income after seeing a surge in her personal assets within a year, continuing what has been a week of accusations directed at the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker.
Hsu and her husband, Liu Yen-li (劉彥澧), an official in the Taichung City Government, reported the couple’s combined assets at NT$4.58 million (US$140,871) at the end of 2022.
By the end of last year, it had doubled to NT$8.75 million, with the main increase being NT$4.15 million in bank deposits, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) New Taipei City Councilor Lee Yu-hsiang (李宇翔) said.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
“Where did the extra income come from? We ask Hsu to explain to the public how you and your husband accumulated so much cash in just a year,” Lee said.
Hsu at the time was a Taipei city councilor and Liu was a bureaucrat with annual salaries of NT$2.2 million and NT$2 million respectively, he said.
Lee demanded that Hsu resign, referring to past occasions in which Hsu asked DPP officials and legislators to resign over financial scandals.
Hsu’s personal assets and income sources came under scrutiny after her sister-in-law, Liu Hsiang-chieh (劉向婕), and her husband, Tu Ping-cheng (杜秉澄), were detained on money laundering charges involving an alleged scam operation.
Investigators said that Liu Hsiang-chieh helped to launder NT$27 million for a scam ring, while Hsu said she had given NT$1 million to her mother-in-law during that time.
Hsu at first said it was a loan for interest payments, then later said it was a gift to her mother-in-law.
Hsu is also facing litigation filed by the Taiwan Statebuilding Party this week, which demanded she take leave immediately pending a judicial investigation into the case involving her sister-in-law.
“Hsu did not explain clearly about the NT$1 million she gave to her mother-in-law,” said Taiwan Statebuilding Party Kaohsiung City Chapter director Yang Pei-hua (楊佩樺), who filed a judicial complaint against Hsu accusing her of corruption and fraud.
Hsu said she was not involved in the scam operation, but rather is a victim in the case by association.
She said the NT$1 million was for her mother-in-law, who borrowed money to help Tu Ping-cheng start a company in 2021.
The NT$1 million was to help pay off the bank interest, she added.
Separately, political pundit Wen Lang-tung (溫朗東) said he is to next week file a defamation case against Hsu for NT$1.5 million, after Hsu accused Wen of being discharged from compulsory military service for “play-acting” like a person with a severe mental disorder by eating grass, defecating on his bunk and other behavior.
“I am not an elected representative or a government official, so Hsu’s talk has violated the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法),” Wen said.
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