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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Cho Po-yuan rejects fraud accusations
Former Changhua County commissioner Cho Po-yuan talks to reporters in Changhua yesterday about the money that was allegedly wired to bank accounts belonging to his family and friends. Photo: Tang Shih-ming, Taipei Times
‘POCKET MONEY’: The former Changhua County chief denied involvement in an illegal land seizure scheme after NT$50 million was found in his in-laws’ accounts
By Chen Wei-han / Staff writer
Former Changhua County commissioner Cho Po-yuan （卓伯源） yesterday defended himself amid allegations that he masterminded an illegal land seizure to secure gains for a retail magnate during his tenure, after prosecutors discovered about NT$50 million （US$1.58 million） in his in-laws’ bank accounts.
According to a report published by the Chinese-language Apple Daily yesterday, Changhua district prosecutors discovered the money in the account of one of Cho’s in-laws surnamed Ting （丁） while investigating charges of embezzlement against Cho Po-chung （卓伯仲）, the former commissioner’s younger brother.
Cho Po-chung was sentenced to nine years in prison by the Changhua District Court in January for colluding with business groups to illegally pocket NT$49 million in the procurement of environmentally friendly bags for the county government.
Prosecutors traced the money to Hsieh Ming-ta （謝明達）, owner of the supermarket chain Yumaowu （裕毛屋） and a former county consultant, who allegedly wired the money via the account of another of Cho’s in-laws surnamed Yang （楊）, the report said.
Ting and Yang were detained on charges of money laundering and forgery before being released on NT$2 million bail.
The money is associated with a textile museum development project that Hsieh’s family was bidding for, the report said.
Cho Po-yuan allegedly orchestrated the project during his tenure as county commissioner, which led to the illegal seizure of nine properties in the county’s Hemei Township （和美） to cater to the Hsieh family’s interests, the report said.
Cho Po-yuan yesterday said that he could not have been involved in the project or the land seizures, because the project was initiated in 2000 and the seized properties were rezoned for the museum’s construction site in 2004, while he did not take office until 2005.
He said the expropriated land was originally zoned for a wholesale market, so the government would have seized the properties even if they had not been rezoned.
He added that the seizure was legal, and that he was merely continuing the policy formulated by the previous administration.
However, land owners including Hsiao Jui-pang （蕭瑞邦） said that the seizure was aimed at benefiting Hsieh’s family, and they filed an administrative suit against the county government, with the Taichung High Administrative Court ruling in 2013 and last year that the seizure was illegal.
Cho Po-yuan rejected allegations that he helped secure profits for Hsieh, saying that the project was not profitable at all, because few contractors showed any interest in constructing the proposed museum.
The Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office had summoned Cho Po-yuan and his wife, Lin Jung-jung （林蓉蓉）, for questioning three times, but only Lin answered the third summons.
The office might resort to forcing Cho Po-yuan and Lin to appear should they fail to answer the subpoena again, it said
Cho Po-yuan said that he and his wife had asked to delay the first two summonses, because he was running in the legislative by-elections last month, and that prosecutors had informed him that his presence was not required just before the third court hearing.
Cho Po-yuan added that he has not ruled out filing slander charges against the Apple Daily.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
