TPP suspends Huang Shan-shan membership, lawmaker seat unaffected

Taipei, Aug. 20 (CNA) The Taiwan People's Party (TPP) decided Tuesday to suspend the party membership of Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊) for three years due to her involvement in a TPP finance scandal, though her legislative seat remains unaffected.

The decision by the party's central review committee means that Huang also loses her position as deputy head of the TPP legislative caucus and central committee membership, though she resigned from the latter post last week.

Lee Wei-hua (李偉華), head of the party's central review committee, said the party will continue investigating the financial misreporting and looking into Huang's eligibility as a lawmaker.

Huang, who headed the TPP's campaign office for party Chairman Ko Wen-je's (柯文哲) presidential bid in the Jan. 13 election, has said she is willing to take full responsibility over allegations concerning the flawed reporting of political donations and expenses.

The review committee also decided to expel Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), who was the finance chief for Ko's election campaign office, and Tuanmu Cheng (端木正), an accountant contracted by the party's finance department.

The Control Yuan announced on Aug. 13 that it had begun to probe Ko's declaration, noting that parties or individual candidates face a fine of NT$60,000-NT$1.2 million for offenses such as submitting false declarations, under the Political Donations Act.

On Aug. 14, Taipei District Prosecutors Office also searched the office of a company that exclusively sells merchandise bearing the former Taipei mayor's trademark "kp" logo, as well as an accounting firm blamed by the TPP for Ko's problematic declarations.