The Ministry of Sports yesterday rebutted claims by Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) of negligence and a cover-up of alleged financial fraud involving the Republic of China Mini Soccer Association.
Huang accused the association of defrauding the public by forging receipts, recording false accounting entries and inflating expenses, embezzling NT$16.147 million (US$513,467) in government subsidies.
After the issue surfaced, then-sports administration officials were too lenient toward association members, letting them pay back the fund in installments over a 10-year period, Huang said.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The sports administration was upgraded to the Ministry of Sports in September.
Then-administration officials covered up the association’s fraudulent activities and shielded it for 10 months, he said, adding that they did not provide him with the accounting details he had asked for.
The ministry yesterday in a statement rejected Huang’s claims, saying that third-party accountants conducted a financial audit, and it consulted experts and followed laws by agreeing to a payback plan.
The ministry said that after officials had noticed irregularities in the association’s accounting records and determined that it had received “excess subsidy funds” for a few years, it demanded the association pay back the excess funds in accordance with the Administrative Execution Act (行政執行法).
Officials fully cooperated with prosecutors investigating the matter, the ministry said.
As the financial audit involved a large number of receipts and documents dating back more than 10 years, the process took about 10 months, it said.
“Then-sports administration officials did not slow down the process or shield the association,” it said.
The association would not be eligible to receive any other subsidies until it pays back the full amount in the installment plan according to the National Sports Organizations Funding Subsidy Measures Under the National Sports Act (國民體育法), it said.
The ministry said it cannot prove further details, as the case is under judicial investigation, adding that its officials would fully cooperate with the investigation and provide financial details if requested.
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