The Taipei District Court (台北地方法院) yesterday continued a pre-trial hearing for former Hsinchu City Bureau of Cultural Affairs chief Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳), who is embroiled in a scandal involving a VCD on which she is shown having sex.
At the second day of the three-day hearing, a private detective told judges that former Hsinchu mayor Tsai Jen-chien (
Whether Tsai and Kuo, two of the 11 defendants in the case, worked together to surreptitiously shoot Chu having sex with married lover Tseng Chung-ming (曾仲銘) is the most pres-sing issue judges are seeking to clarify.
The court summoned Chiao Hui-chun (
The court also summoned defendants Tsai, Kuo and Kuo's 19-year-old daughter Kao Chun-chun (
Kuo is suspected of covering up -- and perhaps destroying -- evidence important to the investigation. She is also alleged to have been involved with finding buyers for the VCD.
Chiao told judges that Tsai called him on July 23 last year to ask about hidden cameras. On July 24, Chiao said Tsai took Kuo to his offices. However, Tsai left before Kuo began asking questions, he said.
"He said that it was a private matter and that he shouldn't be involved," Chiao said.
Chiao said that Kuo told him her husband was having an affair, so she needed help from a private detective. On July 25, Kuo brought Chiao to Chu's Tamsui apartment to install hidden cameras. Chiao said he didn't realize at the time that it was actually Chu's residence.
"She asked me to install hidden cameras in the living room and the bedroom, because her husband might have sex with his girlfriend on the sofa and the bed and she wanted it to be recorded," said Chiao.
According to testimony given to prosecutors during their investigation, Kuo and Tsai confirmed that in July last year they visited the Focus private detective offices in Hsinchu City for information and prices on hidden cameras. However, Tsai denied knowing what Kuo was trying to do with the hidden cameras.
In the meantime, Scoop magazine denied purchasing the master copy of the VCD from Kuo.
At the first pre-trial hearing on April 11, Scoop magazine President Shen Yeh (
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