Investigators today questioned more than 10 people, including former Taipei City Government employees who worked on Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) presidential campaign, over a case involving improper campaign finance reporting.
Taipei prosecutors instructed the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau’s Taipei division to question TPP Secretary-General Vincent Chou (周榆修), spokesperson Tai Yu-wen (戴于文) and several others in the illegal campaign finance reporting case.
They are to decide later today whether to send the witnesses to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for further questioning.
Photo: Liu Ching-hou, Taipei Times
The case involves irregular payments made to the marketing firm Muko (木可行銷公關) and other firms associated with the TPP, and mistakes in campaign finance reports for Ko’s presidential campaign earlier this year.
Investigators in August searched the company offices and questioned seven people in the case, releasing four on bail.
The Prestige Care Foundation, which is run by former Ko campaign finance manager Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), has also been accused of improperly reporting its finances for last year.
Investigators are now trying to determine whether there is any connection between the foundation’s irregular reporting and the campaign finance case.
The foundation said today that it would publish its records from last year for public scrutiny.
The Taipei Department of Social Welfare said it had already received the records it requested from the foundation and would forward them to investigators.
Lee, who is already in custody during ongoing investigations in a separate case, was questioned on Friday last week by the bureau.
The people questioned today worked for Ko’s campaign after leaving the Taipei City Government, with some reportedly being paid through the foundation.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
ANOTHER OPTION: The 13-year-old, whose residency status was revoked for holding a Chinese passport, could still apply for residency on humanitarian grounds, the government said The Executive Yuan has rejected an appeal from a 13-year-old Chinese student surnamed Lu (陸), whose permanent residency was revoked after immigration officers discovered he held a Chinese passport. Lu in December 2023 applied to settle in Taiwan to be with his mother, surnamed Lin (林), who is a Taiwan resident, an appeal decision released this month by the Executive Yuan showed. Lin settled in Taiwan after marrying a Taiwanese man in 2003, but the two divorced in 2011, and after marrying a Chinese man, she had Lu, the Executive Yuan’s appeals committee said. Lu’s application was approved in December 2024, and in