Chang urged the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau to intervene in the investigation.
In response to Chiu’s complaint that prosecutors did not meet the couple at the airport, Chu said doing so was unnecessary.
“If they had wanted to exchange information with other defendants about the case, they could have done so already,” Chu said.
Chu said the couple had failed to provide clear explanations as to why they possessed so much money in their accounts and admitted that they had opened accounts for former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍).
Offering “dummy” accounts to a third party, Chu said, is illegal.
Chen Shui-bian apologized on Aug. 14 for failing to fully declare his campaign funds and for wiring a large sum overseas, while denying he had embezzled money from the government or had been involved in money laundering.
He said his wife had been in charge of the couple’s finances and that he knew nothing about the transfers. Chen’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.
Soon after being named defendants in the case, Chen Chih-chung and Huang’s whereabouts became unknown.
Huang sent her mother and baby girl back to Taiwan on Aug. 17, saying this had been meant to “send a message” to Taiwanese that they would return and that it would be “strange” if they did not come home, as they were wanted by police.
Saying he would fully cooperate with the authorities, Chen Chih-chung said he and his father had little say in family finances and that he and his wife had simply done what his mother asked them. He said he and his wife knew nothing about the source of the money and maintained that his parents were innocent.
He dismissed speculation that he and his wife had applied for US green cards and that he went abroad 25 times over the past six years to take care of business, including school applications, interviews, car rental and apartment rental.
“There is no travel ban imposed on me, so why can I not travel abroad?” he asked.
Chen Chih-chung had planned to pursue a doctorate in law at the University of Virginia this fall. However, the university said that as he failed to show up for orientation, he had forfeited his place in the program.
The school said that although Chen Chih-chung had paid his tuition, he did not complete the enrollment process and as a result was not issued a student ID card.
Chen Chih-chung, however, showed his student ID to the media yesterday and expressed regret over the school’s rejection of his request to keep his application active.
While he respected the school’s decision, he said he was “shocked” and “sorry” to see the school’s change of attitude. He declined to comment on whether this may have been the result of politics, saying that it was beyond his power to speculate.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang and Shih Hsiu-chuan
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