Investigators trying to unravel the Lafayette frigate scandal have suffered a setback, Chinese-language media reported yesterday.
An investigative report concerning the transfer of NT$30 million by a high-level official in former president Lee Teng-hui's (
Without the evidence, investigators cannot track the purpose of the huge transfer.
State Public Prosecutor General Lu Jen-fa (
However, if proven true, Lu said he will order an investigation into the records' disappearance.
According to sources, investigators suspected French bank Societe Generale's (興業銀行) Taipei branch of laundering money from Taiwan's purchase of six French-made Lafayette-class frigates and began reviewing some 700 account books provided to them by the branch.
The group discovered that approximately NT$30 million had been transferred from the branch into the account of a high-level official in Lee's former administration.
About a week later, the money, under the name of a political party, was transferred again into an English cram school in Taichung, then under construction.
As investigators were checking if the money was related to the suspected money laundering, the investigative report went missing.
According to media reports, investigators believe that high-level government officials have tried to manipulate the investigation from behind the scenes.
In related news, the military has decided to posthumously confer the title of rear admiral on the late captain Yin Ching-feng (
Yin was murdered in late 1993. Investigators believe he was murdered as he was about to inform on suspected naval arms purchase irregularities, including the purchase of the Lafayette frigates.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has yet to approve the proposal to confer the posthumous title on Yin, defense sources told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Yin's family members, including his wife Li Mei-kuei (
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique