Whistleblowers accuse nonprofit of mishandling donations for Taiwan martyr who died fighting for Ukraine

吹哨者指責非營利組織對為烏克蘭戰死的台灣烈士的捐款處理不當

Taiwan Center accused of reactivating online donation system and pocketing subsequent donations


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Controversy has arisen over how a nonprofit operated a donation drive in the name of Tseng Sheng-kuang (曾聖光), a Taiwanese Indigenous man who died in November while fighting for Ukraine after whistleblowers accused the nonprofit of misusing funds raised for Tseng's funeral.

A Facebook account under the name of Hsu Mei-hua (許美華) posted on Friday (Feb. 10) that anonymous whistleblowers stated that the Taiwan-Reyhanli Center for World Citizens (Taiwan Center), a Taiwan-funded civic organization in Turkey, had hosted a donation drive to raise funds for Tseng on behalf of Tseng’s family, reactivated the drive and pocketed the money.

When the amount accumulated was enough for the funeral, Tseng's family asked the association to end the fundraiser, but Taiwan Center Director Chiu Chen-yu (裘振宇) refused and threatened the family, claiming they were violating an agreement, which would have serious legal consequences for them, according to the post.

After the drive ended, the center activated it again, which was not commissioned by Tseng’s family, who the whistleblowers also said had not received any additional donations after the initial donation drive concluded.

In response to the accusation, the Taiwan Center posted a long statement on Facebook on Saturday. The center said that after Tseng died on the battlefield, Tseng’s family contacted Chiu, hoping he would hold a fundraiser for Tseng’s funeral. After discussion, the family agreed that the fundraising campaign would be hosted by another association, which was chaired by Chiu at that time.

The Taiwan Center claimed that it had absorbed all the manpower costs during the campaign, had not taken a penny, and even paid for advertisements for the fund out of its own pocket.

After the fundraiser began, donations poured in, and the association concluded the campaign on Nov. 25 via Facebook post in accordance with the agreement signed by the two parties. The center said it counted all the donations in the next four days and gave Tseng’s family all the money it received on Nov. 30.

The Taiwan Center said that some people had asked to make donations after the campaign ended, but the association had declined to accept. The center denied that it had reactivated the donation drive after the initial campaign ended.

However, Hsu Mei-hua rebutted the Taiwan Center’s statement in another Facebook post on Sunday, saying that as a matter of fact, the association reactivated the donation campaign system without telling Tseng’s family and that the association received many donations in January. The post presented evidence of a donation of NT$30,000 (US$990) made on Jan. 10, after the fund drive had allegedly already ended, by someone surnamed Kuo (郭).

The author behind the post hopes Chiu makes a public apology, or “I will make more evidence public to prove that the association reactivated the online donation system.”