TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on Wednesday (Aug. 14) claimed NT$960,000 (US$29,000) invoiced on vegetarian bento (lunchbox) meals was an accounting mix-up amid an investigation into Ko Wen-je's (柯文哲) presidential election campaign finances.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) on Wednesday posted on Facebook that Ko's campaign had listed a NT$960,000 expense for bento meals on Jan. 7. However, the Da Ai Vegetarian Restaurant from which the order was allegedly placed had already stopped operations in 2023 and had been replaced with a cafe.
“Why did Ko Wen-je spend NT$960,000 in one day at this cafe,” asked Lin.
TPP Spokesperson Tai Yu-wen (戴于文) said in an evening press release that the Control Yuan website shows an expense of NT$960,110 for a purchase made from the Da Ai Vegetarian Restaurant, per CNA. However, after reviewing the accounts, two invoices were found: one for NT$110 on Sept. 7, 2023, and another for NT$960 on Jan. 7.
When entering the data, Tai said the accountant mistakenly combined these two invoices into a single amount of NT$960,110 leading to the misunderstanding. Tai vowed the mistake would be promptly corrected.
TPP Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Fu (許甫) that evening uploaded invoices onto his Facebook page and explained how the two had been accidentally combined. Hsu claimed, “Accounting is supposed to be a very professional matter, yet this time the campaign headquarters entrusted someone who keeps demonstrating that nothing is impossible in the world. I'm speechless.”
Hsu appeared to be referring to Ko's presidential campaign accountant Tuanmu Cheng (端木正), who has been at the center of allegations Ko's presidential campaign made false donation declarations. In Ko's political donation report released by the Control Yuan on July 18, three expenses totaling NT$9.16 million were pointed out by companies as not having been charged.

