Several former top financial officials have been questioned by prosecutors as witnesses to alleged irregularities in some of the bank mergers during former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) second term, prosecutors said yesterday.
The Supreme Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Investigation Panel (SIP) said on Wednesday that former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) had given a list to prosecutors that detailed political donations totaling NT$1.21 billion (US$35 million) offered by 20 businesspeople to former president Chen.
SIP Spokesman Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南) said prosecutors suspected some of the donations from bank owners might be related to the bank mergers program, and prosecutors had interviewed former high-level financial officers to better understand the matter.
Chen Yun-nan said prosecutors questioned former Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) chairman Hu Sheng-cheng (胡勝正) and former National Security Council consultant Chen Yung-cheng (陳永誠) as witnesses yesterday, while Central Bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) asked for a postponement because he needed to go to the legislature.
Prosecutors interviewed former vice premier Wu Rong-i (吳榮義) and former minister of finance Lin Chuan (林全) as witnesses on Thursday, Chen Yun-nan said.
The five were responsible for the banking restructuring program in 2005, Chen Yun-nan said. He did not reveal the content of the interviews.
The prosecutors are still investigating allegations that the former president and his wife received bribes from several banks in exchange for favors during the former president’s second financial reform program.
The former first couple were indicted for embezzling NT$104 million from the president’s special discretionary fund during his presidency from 2000 to last year. They also are accused of taking bribes of NT$300 million in connection with a land procurement deal and another NT$90.93 million in kickbacks to help a contractor win the tender for a government construction project.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm
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