Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je speaks to reporters in Taipei on Saturday.Photo: CNA IMITATING OTHERS?Tsai Ing-wen’s office said the former president rents a commercial unit for her personal office and had never used election funds to purchase real estate By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday confirmed that he used about NT$43 million (US$1.35 million) from his presidential election subsidy to purchase an office unit near the Legislative Yuan in May.
Ko made the remarks after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) earlier in the day told a news conference that she received a tip-off that the TPP chairman had purchased a 48.76 ping (161.2m2) office unit at Jinan Building (濟南大樓), a commercial building in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正).
Lin said that Ko purchased the unit on May 10, paying about NT$43 million in cash, and signed the property deed under his name. Citing Ko’s personal financial disclosure as a presidential candidate filed on Nov. 20 last year, Lin said Ko and his wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), had only about NT$24.
64 million in savings and about NT$954,000 in other holdings, sparking questions about where he obtained the money to purchase the office unit. The office is close to the NT$120 million luxury apartment that Chen reportedly visited and was considering purchasing last month, Lin said. This has led to speculation on whet.