By Rich Chang
Staff Reporter
Prosecutors said yesterday they have interviewed former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) as a defendant in the “state affairs fund” investigation and a second interview would be conducted sometime this week.
The initial questioning last month marked the first time in the country’s history a former president has been interviewed as a defendant in a criminal investigation.
Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南), a spokesman for the Supreme Prosecutors Office’s Special Investigation Panel, confirmed yesterday a report in the Chinese-language Apple Daily that the former president had been questioned.
He said that Chen Shui-bian was subpoenaed in June and during the interview the former president provided information on diplomatic missions to show he had used his discretionary fund to finance secret diplomatic efforts.
The Special Investigation Panel named Chen Shui-bian a defendant hours after he stepped down as president on May 20.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) decided last Wednesday to declassify documents related to the case.
Chen Yun-nan said the declassification would help investigators.
The prosecution named the former president a “joint perpetrator” when his wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) was indicted on corruption and forgery charges on Nov. 3, 2006. Wu was accused of using receipts provided by others to claim reimbursements totaling NT$14.8 million (US$450,000) from the fund between July 2002 and March 2006.
Chen Shui-bian said none of the money went into his pocket, adding that the confusing accounting system governing Presidential Office expenses made it necessary to use outside receipts to get money from the discretionary fund to finance secret diplomatic missions abroad.
href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/08/11/2003420025">ANALYSIS: Chen has a case against declassification: analysts
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