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Tang offers reward in frigate case

The Ministry of National Defense is planning to offer a NT$100 million reward to anyone who can provide information that would resolve the long-running Lafayette frigate scandal, Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明) said yesterday.

"The reward will be given only on condition that the information is truly helpful in cracking the case," Tang said.

"If the informer is involved in the scandal, I would suggest to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) that he is granted amnesty," he said.

"Both President Chen and Premier Yu Shyi-kun have agreed to the idea. I reported it to them on Sunday. It is a special measure that we have to take to solve the scandal that has been left unsolved for so many years," he said.

Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) later confirmed that the premier supported Tang's plan to offer a reward.

"The premier agreed to appropriate the money from the Cabinet's second supplementary fund if there's such a need," Lin said.

Lin said the premier also promised to hold several inter-ministerial meetings to provide Tang's ministry with as much assistance as possible.

The scandal involves kickbacks allegedly paid to the KMT in relation to the purchase of six Lafayette-class frigates from France in 1991 for around US$2.8 billion.

Tang announced the reward plan yesterday at the first meeting of the National Defense Committee in the new legislative session.

The announcement surprised the committee's lawmakers, who had expected little new in Tang's report.

During the question-and-answer part of yesterday's meeting, the lawmakers at first repeated questions that had previously been posed regarding the Lafayette scandal but were shocked when Tang announced his plan.

Opposition lawmakers denounced the idea, with some shouting and mocking the minister for what they said was an "unwise and illegal decision."

PFP Legislator Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) said the ministry did not have the authority to offer a reward and that only the judiciary could make such deals.

Chin told Tang that she thought it would be his most unwise decision since taking office.

KMT legislators Lin Nan-sheng (林南生) and Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) asked Tang whether fugitive arms dealer Andrew Wang (汪傳浦), would be the best candidate to take up the reward offer. Wang is wanted in connection with the murder of a navy captain who was in the military's arms procurement office at the time of the frigates' purchase.

In response, Tang said the ministry proposed the plan after reviewing the law and that Chen, who had agreed to the plan, had the right to grant amnesty to an informer if he were involved in the scandal.

"The ministry is determined to find out the truth of the matter. We hope people who were involved in the purchase of the six Lafayette-class frigates will come out to explain" exactly what happened, Tang said.

"The investigation of the scandal lacks the evidence needed to move ahead. We have to take special measures to make a breakthrough," he said.

Asked whether it would be acceptable for Wang to claim the reward, Tang replied, "If we give him NT$100 million in return for the NT$20 billion that he has deposited at a Swiss bank but that has been frozen, who would be the winner?"

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