High Court upholds acquittal of Ma Ying-jeou in KMT assets sale

Taipei, Dec. 31 (CNA) Taiwan's High Court on Wednesday upheld the acquittal of former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) over the disposal of Kuomintang (KMT) assets during his tenure as party chairman about two decades ago, ruling that prosecutors presented insufficient evidence to support the breach of trust charge.

Ma, along with Chang Che-chen (張哲琛) and Wang Hai-ching (汪海清) -- two key KMT figures involved in managing the party's sale of BCC News Radio, China Television and Central Motion Picture as well as its old Taipei headquarters building in 2005 and 2006 -- was indicted in 2018 for breach of trust and irregular transactions.

In 2021, the Taipei District Court acquitted all three, saying Ma held no managerial role at the KMT's Central Investment Co., the parent company that managed the party's assets, and evidence presented by prosecutors against Chang and Wang was insufficient.

The High Court on Wednesday rejected the appeal against the lower court's ruling filed by prosecutors, but the decision can still be appealed to the Supreme Court.

The prosecutors' indictment centered on transactions carried out at below-market prices to benefit buyers, including Yu Chien-hsin (余建新), then owner of the China Times Group, and Jaw Shau-kong (趙少康), a political commentator, among others.

The transactions led to a NT$7.2 billion (US$229.3 million) loss for Central Investment Co., including NT$1.5 billion related to the sale of BCC to Jaw, according to the prosecutors.

On Wednesday, the High Court ruled that, after reviewing Central Investment Co.'s decision-making process as well as the transaction structures and terms, it was difficult to determine whether the deals were tailor-made for the buyers or detrimental to Central Investment Co. and other KMT investment companies.

The Taiwan High Prosecutors Office said it would consider appealing the ruling.

A statement issued by Ma's office stated that Ma was very pleased with the ruling and thanked the judges for handling the case fairly, which cleared his name.

The matter originated from a 2006 lawsuit filed by You Si-kun (游錫堃), then chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), with the Black Gold Investigation Center of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office, the predecessor of the now-disbanded Special Investigations Division that handled high-profile corruption cases.

The Special Investigations Division closed its investigation in 2014 without bringing any charges, but the Taipei District Prosecutors Office reopened the case in 2017, following new evidence provided by the public and the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee, an entity established by the DPP government in 2006 to reclaim KMT assets.

In the statement, Ma's office said the case was launched by the DPP, with certain media outlets and prosecutors targeting him for years, but the ruling on Wednesday ultimately proved his innocence.