During a forest fire rescue event on February 9, Taiwanese dignitaries, California politicians and Arcadia firefighters posed for a photo with a giant check made to an emerging foundation.
The $ 510,000 gift from an international chamber of commerce based in Taiwan would benefit around 54 Arcadia firefighters, a city near Altadena which was spared by Eaton Fire.
But the Foundation of the Arcadia Fire Service, which has the member of the municipal council, David FU as a member of the board of directors and former member of the municipal council, Sho Tay, was not registered with the State and was therefore not authorized to accept donations, according to documents deposited with the California procureur office, which dates back to charity organizations.
The Foundation website close In February, a few days after the time, inquired about his status with the Office of the Attorney General.
“We are working with the Foundation to comply,” said a prosecutor general spokesperson in a statement.
More than a month later, the foundation has still not registered. Arcadia officials say they did not receive money.
The important check – drawn up at a small unregistered charity organization supervised by a local politician – touched a nerve in a city on the clock for signs of foreign influence. In December, Arcadia ended up at the center of a spy scandal after federal prosecutors accused the campaign director of the Eileen Wang City Council of collusion with the Chinese government to have it elected.
“The funds collected from foreign entities to a non -profit organization on which an elected government representative is still suspect and has no specific use or project to finance is even more suspicious,” wrote the former mayor of Arcadia, April Verlato, on Nextdoor.
Fu has not responded to several requests for comments.
But on the same post Nextdoor, Fu said that the funds “will be used to support our brave firefighters and new protection from our city”.
“I can’t take credit. I am not Taiwanese, I don’t speak Chinese and I have nothing to do to receive this incredibly generous gift,” he wrote.
Tay, who founded the Arcadia fire service foundation a few years ago, said that the lack of paperwork was probably a mixture of his accountant.
The global Taiwanese chambers of commerce, which announced that it donated $ 510,000 to the Foundation, is a world organization that links Taiwanese business communities around the world. The group did not respond to a request for comments.
During the Forest Fire Fire Emergency event of February 9 at the Economic and Cultural Office of Taipei in Los Angeles – the equivalent of a consulate, because Taiwan has no official diplomatic relations with the United States – the Foundation of the Arcadia Fire Service received its check alongside the Fire of Fire Service in Los Angeles, which obtained $ 500,000 Taiwan.
Taiwan is an autonomous democracy that China claims as its own territory. The two governments compete for power internationally, China convincing all countries except 11 and the Holy See not to recognize Taiwan.
Arcadia, with an American Asian population over 60%, is home to many Taiwanese and Chinese immigrants. According to federal prosecutors, the Chinese government had spotted a rising star in Arcadia, hoping to cultivate a politician who could help them to push pro-Chinese policies, in particular with regard to Taiwan.
Arcadia firefighters, Chen Suen, said the Foundation told him that $ 360,000 from world Taiwanese business rooms would go to the fire center for a training center, which, according to him, would also benefit neighboring cities like Sierra Madre, Pasadena and Monrovia. The rest, said Suen, would go to another charitable organization associated with the Union of Arcadia firefighters, to be used for cancer screening for firefighters.
This other charitable organization, the Arcadia firefighters’ foundation, is in “delinquent status” at the Office of the Attorney General of the State and also prevented the gifts due to the excited registration, according to documents accessible to the public.
Justine Bruno, director of the city of Arcadia, said that the city will not accept money from the Arcadia fire service until its documents are in order. She said the Foundation will decide how to spend money from the global Taiwanese chambers of commerce.
“We receive a lot of questions about it,” said Bruno. “The foundation has obtained a truly generous donation and contribution, which is wonderful for the foundation, but for the moment, it is not planned to spend these dollars.”
She added that the city lawyers do not believe that sitting both in the municipal council and the board of directors of the Foundation creates a conflict of interest for FU, because it is not supposed to benefit financially from gifts to the Foundation. In a small town, she noted that politically active residents often find themselves carrying the two hats. Mayor Michael Cao, for example, is on the board of directors of the Arcadia police foundation, according to the city’s website.
At the end of January, officials of the Taipei economic and cultural office visited a fire station in Arcadia, said Suen. Officials wanted to know how he could use the money that the Taiwanese chambers of commerce planned to donate.
Suen, who is Taiwanese American, said he told them that the city was trying to build a training center With the US Forest Service to improve response times for emergencies such as active shooters and bombing. US representative Judy CHU (D-Monterey Park) was trying to get $ 2 million thanks to federal subsidies, but the city thought the center would cost up to $ 4 million, he said.
Suen said he didn’t know how the Taiwanese chambers of commerce in the world had found the fire service, but he was grateful for support.
“Even if Arcadia was largely assigned in terms of loss of houses, we had 66% of our department on staff for 36 to 48 hours to take care of East End,” he said.
Previously, the most important donation that the Fire Service Foundation of the Arcadia had made was $ 20,000, which the Arcadia municipal council voted to accept last year to finance training projects for the fire service.
Tay, the former member of the municipal council, said that after hearing the planned donation of the Economic and Cultural Office of Taipei at the Foundation of the Fire Service of the, he wanted to see what could be available for Arcadia.
Tay said it was linked to the world’s Taiwanese chambers of commerce in January.
“I said:” We have a large population of Taiwanese, and our chief is Taiwan, and I am from Taiwan, so maybe you can help “,” he said.
The global Taiwanese chambers of commerce, which are not a government entity, stick a fundraising for its donation to the Arcadia fire service through its network in Asia, Europe and America, according to Arthur Chen, head of his North American chapter.
AMINO CHI, director general of the Economic and Cultural Office of Taipei in Los Angeles, said in a statement that Taiwan and the Arcadia fire service share “a long -standing connection”, Taiwan sometimes sending firefighters to the city for training.
After the fires of Palisades and Eaton, the office of Chi contacted the officials of the city of Los Angeles, who suggested making a donation to the Foundation of the Los Angeles Fire Service or the Red Cross.
It is common after disasters for foreign countries to donate to emergency efforts in a goodwill demonstration and a subtle flexion of the soft power. Since they cannot make a donation directly to American government agencies, they generally give charitable organizations.
Among the countries that have donated for forest fire efforts were Japan, which gave $ 2 million to the Red Cross, and South Korea, which gave $ 1 million to California Community Foundation.
Tay said that the world’s Taiwanese chambers of commerce was a gift – no attached channel.
“Some people have started to become political (saying):” Oh, it is government money “. No, it’s the Chamber of Commerce, “he said. “Some people read too much – far too much.”
California Daily Newspapers
