[williamchung taiwan]

Magazine claims three city councilors part of Twin Towers scandal

By Lauly Li, The China Post
May 9, 2013, 12:08 am TWN



TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taipei prosecutors yesterday said they will investigate claims made by a magazine that three Taipei city councilors may be involved in the Twin Towers bidding scandal, a charge that all three have rejected.



Next Magazine on Wednesday published an article claiming that Kuomintang (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元), Chin Li-fang (秦儷舫) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Councilor Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) were involved in the Twin Towers controversy. The three councilors reportedly bought high-end apartments at extremely low prices from a consortium with connections to Huang Cheng-kuo (黃承國), a figure suspected of involvement in the Twin Towers bidding scandal.

On Tuesday, Taipei prosecutors questioned Huang — a DPP member and vice chairman of the local consortium — as a suspect. Prosecutors allege that Huang violated the Company Act by helping the Twin Towers project's now disqualified bidder, Taipei Gateway International Development Co. Ltd., (TGID, 太極雙星), to bribe city councilors in an attempt to win the bid in October 2012.

Next Magazine claimed the three city councilors' purchase of the apartments was no coincident, suggesting instead that the apartments were a form of bribe from Huang that the three accepted, in the process guaranteeing their support for TGID's bid.

City Councilors Reject Claims

In response, the three city councilors held a press conference yesterday morning rejecting the allegations.

Lee said he bought the apartment in 2009, which was before the TGID tendered the Twin Towers bid, therefore there is no connection between the apartment and the TGID. Lee said that he criticized the TGID on various occasions in the past, noting that he would not do this if he had accepted the TGID's offer.

The building housing the three councilors' apartments was completed in 2012.

Chin said there is no way she could have been involved in the Twin Towers case, as she is not a member of the city council's transportation commission. Chin said that as she bought the apartment in 2010 it is reasonable that the apartment's market price is higher now than when she bought it.

Chuang also denied any connection between his apartment and the Twin Towers bid, adding that the timing of the speculation is suspicious given that the Taipei prosecutor questioned Huang on Tuesday and Next Magazine published their article the following day.

Taipei prosecutors said they searched Huang's consortium office on Tuesday as part of investigating fund sources for one of the other suspects, Cheng Hung-tao (程宏道), who has connections to TGID and is now being detained and held incommunicado over the case.

Prosecutors said they will continue investigating funds connected to TGID while also looking into Next Magazine's claims.

Since the Taipei prosecutor began investigating the Twin Towers bid in March, more than 10 people, including three Taipei City Government officials have been questioned over the case.

KMT City Councilor Lai Su-ju (賴素如) and real estate developer Cheng Hung-tao were detained and held incommunicado at the end of March.