By Mo Yan-chih / Staff Reporter
The strategy director of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) re-election campaign office, Chu Yun-peng (朱雲鵬), yesterday dismissed media allegations that he illegally purchased a farmhouse, saying the house would only be used for agricultural purposes.
Chu said he purchased a pre-sale farmhouse next to National Central University in Taoyuan County in November 2007 and that the farmhouse is still under construction, dismissing a story in the weekly Next Magazine that he abused his power as a government official to acquire the property.
“I signed the contract with a real-estate agency when the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] was still in power. There was no abuse of power and the purchase process was completely legal ... The house is under construction, but we are already making plans for it to be used for agricultural purposes,” he told a press conference yesterday.
The accusations against Chu surfaced amid ongoing controversy surrounding DPP vice presidential candidate Su Jia-chyuan’s (蘇嘉全) farmhouse in Pingtung County. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has accused Su of violating regulations by obtaining a luxury farmhouse for non-agricultural use.
According to the Next Magazine report, Chu purchased the farmhouse in Taoyuan while working on a revitalization project for farm villages as a minister without portfolio under the Ma administration.
The pre-sale house belonged to a collective that comprised 20 units, with the price of each unit reaching NT$25 million (US$830,000).
Aside from using the farmhouse to avoid property taxes, Chu also asked the Taoyuan County Government to delay issuing a construction license to the construction company, forcing the firm to accept Chu’s requests about the conditions of the house, the report said.
Chu’s lawyer Lee Lyun-ran (李永然) said his client made sure the purchase process was legal before buying the property, adding that the Taoyuan County Government would not have issued a construction license to the contractor if the purchase was illegal.
“The farmhouse issue is not about how you obtain a farmhouse, but how you use it. Everyone can purchase farmland or a farmhouse, but the properties must be used for agricultural purposes,” he said.
Chu slammed the magazine for failing to carry his statement in the story. He demanded that the magazine issue a correction and threatened to file a defamation lawsuit if it failed to do so.
Chu was a long-term aide to Ma. He resigned as minister without portfolio in 2009 after media reports that he had been going out on dates with a girlfriend during work hours.
DPP Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) said “it is ironic that Chu supports the Ma administration’s initiatives on a luxury tax and a mansion tax on the one hand, while enjoying tax incentives because of his farmhouses on the other.”
Ma should explain whether Chu had abused his power, she said.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang--liang (蔡煌瑯) urged Chu to explain whether he purchased the farmhouse using his position as a public servant, whether the property was to be used for agricultural purposes and whether he forced the developer to sell him the house at a lower price, Tsai said.
Additional reporting by Chris Wang