Taiwan president-elect asked to explain family’s offshore unit
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Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers on Wednesday called on President-elect Tsai Ing-wen to explain her family’s connection to an offshore company that came under public scrutiny after a data leak from a Panamanian firm.
At the KMT caucus press room, lawmakers called on Tsai to explain the dealings of Koppie Limited, an offshore company her older brother registered in 2008.
The firm came under the spotlight this week in the wake of a giant leak from a Panama-based law firm.
Lien Yuan-long, an attorney for Tsai’s older brother Tsai Ying-yang, said his client had not engaged in tax evasion or money laundering through the company.
Tsai Ying-yang had established the offshore unit for the sole purpose of buying financial products, according to Lien.
3 reasons for using offshore unitsThere is no need to establish an offshore company for the purpose of buying financial products, said William Tseng, KMT lawmaker and former chairman of Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission.
Tseng said there were three reasons an ROC national would choose to use offshore units.
One is tax evasion and another is investing overseas particularly in mainland China, Tseng said.
A third reason for establishing an offshore company is to avoid supervision under ROC laws and regulations, he said, calling on the Tsai household to explain their company’s purpose.
Johnny Chiang, deputy secretary general of the KMT caucus, said that an offshore company could be engaged in legal activities but could also easily enter into illicit dealings.
Chiang said Tsai Ying-yang’s offshore company warranted further investigation, as his name had appeared in past controversies including an investment case involving Yu Chang Biologics.
The president-elect needs to come clean not only about her family’s business interests in Taiwan but also those overseas, KMT Legislator Lee Yan-hsiu said.
Earlier this week, records from the so-called “Panama Papers” drew Taiwan media’s attention to a massive database about offshore companies at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalist's website.
The database lists 16,785 records connected to people in the Republic of China including Wei Ying-chiao and the president-elect’s brother Tsai Ying-yang.
Tax evasion bill this sessionThrough a spokesman, the president-elect said that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus intended to make its tax evasion bill a priority in the current lawmaking session.
Tsai told party members that cases involving tax evasion or other illegal act must be thoroughly investigated, according to a DPP spokesman.
The DPP caucus has designated its tax evasion bill -- a revision to Article 43 of the Income Tax Act -- as “very high priority.”
Tsai said she hoped to see the bill pass in the current session, and told party members that her administration would consider the bill a priority after it enters office on May 20.
