Ko Wen-je’s TPP Fights Back Against Alleged Corruption Scandal

TaiwanPlus News

TPP officials have attempted to clarify questionable expenses of the presidential campaign for party leader Ko Wen-je. The party says some of the more than half a million U.S. dollars can be explained by simple input errors.

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00:00Officials from the Taiwan People's Party, or TPP, are fighting back against a corruption

00:05scandal that has engulfed the party and damaged its popularity.

00:09The scandal stems from the presidential campaign of the party's candidate and leader, Koh Wen-teh.

00:13The campaign itself now admits that more than half a million U.S. dollars in expenses were

00:17improperly reported.

00:19Koh and others say they were not aware of the questionable expenses and are blaming

00:23them on an outside accountant, who has been questioned by police and released on bail.

00:28Former head of the campaign, Vivian Huang, restated that the campaign can prove its innocence

00:33and that all expenses can be fully accounted for.

00:35She also apologized for the mistakes made by the campaign and its accountants.

00:51A lingering question is whether or not the public is going to accept the story that the

00:55party is offering, and the allegations have already had a major impact on the popularity

00:59of the party and on Koh himself, a man once seen to be one of the top contenders for the

01:03presidency.

01:04Now, many analysts have also said that if Koh is seen by the public to be culpable

01:09for these crimes, it's very unlikely that the party will survive without him.

01:13So whatever the outcome of this investigation, it seems clear that the party is going to

01:17have not just a legal crisis on its hands, but a political one as well.

01:22Luffy Lee and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus.

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