Judicial authorities searched eight locations in Hualien City yesterday related to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi’s business and political dealings.
Authorities are investigating after complaints were filed accusing Fu of illegally receiving funds from foreign sources and vote-buying during campaigning for last year’s legislative elections.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office coordinated with Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau units to search several residences and offices of Hualien-based Shan Tian Xia Integrated Marketing (戰天下整合行銷) and Shan Tian Xia Co (戰天下公司), which were responsible for promotional material and merchandise for Fu’s campaign.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Prosecutors questioned Lee Ching-lung (李慶隆), a housekeeper for Fu and a former executive at a real-estate company owned by Fu.
Lee lives in an annex of Fu’s family mansion in Hualien, leading to initial erroneous reports that authorities had searched Fu’s home.
The complaints against Fu and the two companies were filed separately by Taipei City Councilor Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and political commentator Wen Lang-tung (溫朗東),
They allege that official documents were forged and that gifts valued at more than NT$30 each were given to potential voters, contravening the Business Entity Accounting Act (商業會計法), the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法) and the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法).
Prosecutors yesterday afternoon said that the complaints were filed last month and they launched the investigation with an initial search on Feb. 27, a second phase on Tuesday and yesterday’s third phase, which targeted Shan Tian Xia Integrated Marketing and its owner, Lee Tsui-yun (李翠雲), and Shan Tian Xia Co and its owner, Su Yi-shun (蘇意舜).
The merchandise for Fu’s campaign, including the gifts, were allegedly supplied by the two companies, which imported the goods from China, the complaint filed by Wen said, adding that funds from China went to Fu’s election campaign.
None of the items were declared to election authorities, and the companies did not provide import documents and receipts, the complaint said.
Wen accused Fu of accounting and political donation fraud, as well as secretly using Chinese finances in contravention of the Anti-Infiltration Act.
Fu distributed “personal grooming kits” to other KMT candidates during campaigning ahead of the legislative elections in January last year, which might be the largest instance of vote-buying and political donation fraud in Taiwan’s history, Wen’s complaint said.
Fu yesterday denied any wrongdoing.
Handing out the gifts was legal, as the price per unit was NT$20, he said, accusing the DPP and prosecutors of unfairly targeting him.
Moreover, Taipei prosecutors do not have jurisdiction to conduct investigations or searches in Hualien County, he said.
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