After nearly a year of investigation, prosecutors yesterday handed down indictments against nine former naval officers over the high-profile scandals surrounding the purchases of French Lafayette frigates and German-made minesweeper components.
Of the nine men indicted, six were for the Lafayette case and three were for the minesweeper components case.
Prosecutors said the navy had inflated the prices of the six Lafayette frigates and illegally benefited the French manufacturer Thomson-CSF the sum of 2.4 billion francs, or NT$10.8 billion.
Of the nine indicted former naval officers, the highest-ranking was the former naval commander-in-chief, Admiral Yeh Chang-tung (
Former vice admiral Lei Hsueh-ming (雷學明) was indicted with the prosecutors' recommendation to the court that he be sentenced to 14 years -- the harshest request in these two cases.
The two cases represent part of a complicated series of arms purchase mysteries believed to be linked to the 1993 murder of navy captain Yin Ching-feng (
But concerning the Lafayette case, the prosecutors in the indictment did not present evidence showing the accused had taken any kickbacks, triggering questions that the indictments were made improperly.
"[Prosecutors] should let the evidence speak for itself. The prosecutors don't have any evidence that I can see," Lei Hsueh-ming said yesterday, adding that he was amazed by the actions taken.
"The prosecutors, who have been investigating the flow of money [in the case] never found any improper monetary transactions between these [indicted] people," said Joanna Lei (
State Public Prosecutor General Lu Jen-fa (盧仁發), however, said the indicted naval officers had provided the French side excess profits. "As for whether there were kickbacks and commissions, we are still investigating," Lu said.
But former captain Kang Shih-chun (康世淳) indicted in the Lafayette scandal called the indictment "entirely political" in nature.
"[The prosecutors] are just doing whatever they can to appease the president in the wake of his demand that the `investigation should be carried out even if it shakes the nation to its very foundation,'" Kang said.
Joanna Lei also said that rumors were circulating among the special investigation force that the indictments were hastily handed down because the prosecutors had been ordered to close the case within a year.
Under direct order from President Chen Shui-bian (
Taiwan changed its original plan of buying frigates from South Korea to sourcing them from France in 1989.
According to the prosecutors, Lei Hsuen-ming and other officials in charge produced false performance data on Lafayette frigates and inflated the price, knowing that the frigates did not meet requirements and disregarding orders by their superiors to knock down the price.
As for the minesweeper case, the indictment said that former navy commander Yuan Yu-fan (袁友范) had embezzled more than NT$10 million in interest that the fund for the purchase had accrued. It said Yen Chang-tung had learned of Yuan's offense but failed to take the proper action of sending him to military prosecutors.
Lu went on to say that the investigation into the murder of captain Yin will also continue.
Yin, who until his suspicious death was in charge of navy procurements, was allegedly about to blow the whistle on the corruption surrounding the navy purchases when he was killed.
The Lafayette scandal also rocked the political establishment in France, where former foreign minister Roland Dumas was forced to resign as head of the Constitutional Council -- France's top legal authority -- last year.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RSS