Taiwan’s Cabinet-level Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee on Tuesday passed a resolution to seize nearly NT$3.238 billion (US$116.23 million) from the main opposition Kuomintang for the “illegal sale” of property decades ago.

The committee ruled during a meeting Tuesday that the KMT illegally acquired the property, including a parcel of land, between 1954 and 1974 originally designed to house the party’s National Development and Research Institute in Muzha, it later said in a statement.

According to the committee, the property was illegally obtained because from 1953 to June 1980, 85.38 percent of the party’s revenue came from the then KMT government, while the collection of party membership fees accounted for only 1.83 percent of its revenue receipts.

The property was later transferred to Taipei City government and Yuan Lih Constructions Co. and cannot be returned to the national coffers, according to the committee.

Therefore, the committee decided to retrieve the amount of NT$3.24 billion from other KMT assets in accordance with the Act Governing the Settlement of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations, according to the statement.

The committee said after negotiations with Yuan Lih, the construction company agreed to donate NT$813 million to the Republic of China.

The committee will close its investigation into the case after Yuan Lih makes the donation, it said, adding that it signed a settlement agreement regarding the property earlier Tuesday.

In response, KMT Administration and Management Committee Director Chiu Da-chan (???) said that if the committee maintains the KMT used government money to purchase the property, it should provide evidence.

In addition, Lee Guei-min (???), head of the KMT Central Evaluation and Discipline Committee, said the party will take legal action against the decision.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel