A woman who claimed she had a love child with former Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) chairman Koo Chen-fu (
Teng Hsiang-mei (
Teng and Chang's lawyer said they would like to return to the Koo family NT$40 million (US$1.21 million) in hush money and two houses Koo had given them -- something they would likely have to do anyway, since the family has filed a civil suit against them to get back the money and property.
PHOTO: WU YUEH-HSIU, TAIPEI TIMES
Teng and Chang were both indicted last year by prosecutors, after DNA tests failed to establish any kinship between Chang and Koo.
Teng's first confession came after the end of their trial on Monday at the Shilin District Court. During the proceedings, Teng suddenly knelt down in front of the judges and admitted that her daughter was not Koo's.
She told the judges that now she had admitted to the fabrication, she hoped that the court would give her a lighter punishment when they sentence her on Oct. 18.
Prosecutors had said the mother-daughter team were extortionists and asked the court to sentence Teng to five years in jail and her daughter Chang to three years for demanding hush money from the Koo family.
They both were charged under the Law of Obtaining Property by Threats (
Teng said that she had received hush money from Koo for years. After Chang was born, Teng said, Koo gave Chang and Teng two apartments and -- since 1994 -- cash payments of NT$205,000 (US$6,100) per month.
The two went public with their claims last year, when his family refused to make any more payments after his death at the age of 89.
According to Teng, 65, she first met Koo in 1964 when he was 48 and she was in her early 20s, and they had a relationship until his death.
Three years after Koo and Teng met, she gave birth to Chang, now 39.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)