Prosecutors probe charges of `magic' water swindle

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator and former Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Su Chi's (蘇起) sister Su Yung-an (蘇永安) was accused of selling what she called "water of magic power" to the public, and Taipei prosecutors are investigating the matter.

According to Lin Pang-liang (林邦樑), spokesman for the Taipei Prosecutors' Office, a woman surnamed Wu accused Su Yung-an of selling her eight bottles of water for NT$20,000 (US$640). Wu also accused Su of writing her a prescription even though she had no medical license, Lin said.

"Wu accused Su of deception and violating medical laws, and the office has investigated the matter," Lin said.

Wu last week told Chinese language newspapers she attended "Cosmic Life Energy" courses hosted by Su Yung-an. Su Yung-an sold her expensive bottles of supposedly "magic" water, and wrote her a "prescription" directing her to smear the water on her forehead and eyes every day.

Wu said she finally realized that the "magic" water was just ordinary bottled water.

Su Yung-an last week denied Wu's accusations. She told reporters the water she sold was originally normal bottled water, but that after she put energy into them, the water had magical properties.

Su Yung-an told reporters she had no license to practice medicine, but insisted that she never wrote prescriptions.

After the accusations were made public, Su Chi told reporters he believes his sister is innocent. He said he drank some of his sister's "magic water," and thought it was good for the body.

The Taipei City Government's Bureau of Health last week seized hundreds of bottles of bottled water from Su Yung-an's Taipei office as part of an investigation into the matter. An official at the bureau said that if Su was found to have written prescriptions without a medical license, she would be violating the law and the bureau would report it to prosecutors.

When accused of helping promote Su Yung-an's "magic products" in her radio program, TV and radio talk show hostess Clara Chou (周玉蔻) last week insisted she had done nothing wrong.

On her radio program, Chou said that two years ago, after an interview with Su, she spent more than NT$100,000 on "Cosmic Life Energy" courses and bought some bottles of "magic" water.

She remembered that Su Yung-an once said that one could live to 140 years old if he or she drank the "magic" water over a long period of time.

Chou said on her show that "now she realized that Su Yung-an is a swindler."

A woman surnamed Fu last week also told reporters she spent NT$120,000 on Su's waters to cure her breast cancer. Fu claimed that Su told her she could be cured without medical treatment, just by drinking the "magic" water.

The woman said she almost delayed her medical treatment because of what Su told her.