|
Ma’s sister livid
over implication in bribe scandal
‘SPECULATION’: A furious Ma Yi-nan yesterday
denied involvement in the Taipei Twin Towers project and accused ‘Next Magazine’
of printing baseless allegations
By Mo Yan-chih / Staff reporter
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) eldest sister yesterday denied playing a role in
the Taipei Twin Towers bribery scandal and threatened to take measures to
protect her reputation.
Ma Yi-nan (馬以南), who has sparked controversies in the past for her role in her
brother’s election campaigns and involvement in government businesses, dismissed
allegations in the latest edition of the Chinese-language Next Magazine that she
used her influence to ask Da Cin Construction Co (達欣工程) to lend its offices to
Taipei Gateway International Development Co (太極雙星) to create the impression that
the project developer was financially solid.
The magazine said Ma Yi-nan was close friends with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
Taipei City Councilor Lai Su-ju (賴素如), and that at Lai’s request, she asked Da
Cin vice chairman Wang Jen-chih (王人治) to make the company’s offices available as
meeting rooms for the developer to discuss the project with Taipei City’s
Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS) last year.
The consortium, led by Taipei Gateway International Development, won the tender
in October last year with a NT$70 billion (US$2.34 billion) bid, but lost the
rights to the project in February when it failed to furnish a NT$1.89 billion
performance bond by deadline.
According to an initial police investigation, Lai had been contacted by former
DORTS official Jia Er-ching (賈二慶) through a middleman, Peng Chien-ming (彭建銘), to
ask Lai to help contractor Cheng Hung-dao (程宏道) win the project, allegedly
promising Lai NT$10 million in return.
Investigators said Peng delivered the first installment of NT$1 million to Lai’s
law firm and that Peng handed the money to Lai in person.
Since the bid made by Taipei Gateway International Development failed because of
a lack of funding, Lai was not given the rest of the money promised by Cheng.
Lai is in detention over her alleged role in the scandal.
Ma Yi-nan yesterday dismissed the allegations in the magazine.
In a written statement, she denied asking Da Cin to lend its offices to the
developer, and expressed regret over what she said was an unverified story
filled with speculation.
“I’ve never heard of Taipei Gateway International Development before news about
the bribery scandal broke recently, and it is impossible for me to lend Da Cin
Construction’s office space to the developer,” she said.
She acknowledged knowing Wang, but said they had only worked together on charity
events, including programs to help Aboriginal students and children from
low-income families.
She accused the magazine of damaging her reputation with groundless allegations,
adding that she was considering taking legal action.
Meanwhile, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) declined to comment on speculation
that prosecutors plan to summon him for questioning over his role in the Taipei
Twin Towers project. He reiterated that the city government would respect the
investigation process and expected prosecutors to complete its probe as soon as
possible.
Separately, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that the KMT owns part
of the land where the Taipei Twin Towers is to be built, and said it stood to
make a huge profit from the project.
“Lai proposed a bill in the Taipei City Council to allow private owners of land
allocated for the Taipei Twins Towers to take part in the development project.
The biggest landowner at the site is the KMT, which owns 1,669.3785m2 of the
land, and the party could make a profit of about NT$6 billion from the project,”
DPP spokesman Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said.
“The KMT would be the biggest profit-maker in the project,” Lin said.
Lai was likely the person representing the party in dealing with the project,
Lin said, adding that he suspected the president knew everything.
Additional reporting by Rich Chang
|
