The daughter of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) accused Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members yesterday of taking money from her father when they were running for public office but not declaring it.
Describing the money laundering scandal enveloping her father as the result of “political strife,” a visibly angry Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤) called the honesty of all politicians — both in the DPP and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — into question, saying she wondered whether they ever truthfully declared their political donations or leftover campaign funds.
“Oh, yes, the KMT wants us dead. Chen Shui-bian is their No. 1 enemy,” she said. “If Chen Shui-bian were dead, [President] Ma Ying-jeou would not have to do anything and would easily get elected. It doesn’t matter that his approval rating is as low as 1 percent or he sells out Taiwan to China.”
Chen Hsing-yu, known for her quick temper and sharp tongue, lambasted DPP members she said had taken money from her father but now pretended to be clean. She singled out former premiers Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) as well as Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊).
Her outburst came in response to questions from reporters as she headed into her office yesterday morning.
The former president created a political shockwave last Thursday when he apologized for failing to fully declare his campaign funds and for wiring a large sum overseas, while denying embezzling money from the government or being involved in money laundering. He said his wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) had been in charge of the couple’s finances and that he knew nothing about them.
Chen Shui-bian’s office later said that more than US$20 million had been sent abroad.
Prosecutors have said they believe Wu used figureheads, including her husband, brother, son, daughter-in-law, daughter and son-in-law, to wire money overseas.
Saying her father had told her to keep quiet, Chen Hsing-yu was trying to call her mother on her cellphone to tell her that she was going public even as she yelled at reporters that the alleged scandal was a political attack on her family.
“It is OK that I die, but I cannot die for nothing,” she said. “Before I die, I want the public to know who took the money.”
She criticized the campaign finance laws as “unreasonable” and said that it was not fair that her father was taking all the blame.
She said that all she knew about the scandal was that all the money that had been wired overseas came from her father’s surplus campaign funds, but that she did not know if money laundering was involved.
When asked about why her parents wired the money abroad, she said: “Do you think it was legal to keep it here?” before asking if reporters knew why and where KMT officials had sent their money overseas.
She also shouted at a reporter who asked her why the money had not been deposited under her parents’ names, but under those of her and her brother and other family members.
“Do you think that would work? If you ask around, people will tell you they always use figureheads,” she said.
She said she had not known there was an overseas bank account in her name until she read about it in the newspapers. She said she had never thought she had so much money.
“If I had that much money, I could have just stayed home. Why do I have to work so hard?” she said before stepping into her office.
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