The Presidential Office's probe into its former deputy secretary-general Chen Che-nan (
Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidential Office Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) told the legislature's Organic Laws and Statutes Committee that the office had handed over its investigation report to prosecutors and the Control Yuan for further investigation yesterday afternoon.
"We admit there is a negligence problem in management, and the president, the Presidential Office and the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] are paying a big political price for it," Ma said.
Ma, however, emphasized that neither President Chen Shui-bian (
Ma made the remarks in response to questions filed by People First Party (PFP) caucus whip Sun Ta-chian (孫大千) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip John Wu (吳志揚).
While Sun asked Ma about the relationship between the president and Chen Che-nan, Wu asked Ma about the Presidential Office's internal investigation report.
According to Ma, the report, released by the Presidential Office last Friday, found that Chen Che-nan had abused his power as a public servant and made several secret overseas trips without filing applications for official leave.
In addition, Ma said that Chen Che-nan had incorrectly filed a financial report outlining his financial situation, which might have violated the law.
The task force interviewed more than 300 staff members, including Kao Shen-shen (
Kao confirmed to have helped Chen Che-nan manage his personal finances between May 2000 and May last year and lend him one of her personal accounts for stock trading.
Because the investigation report was handed over to prosecutors, Ma said that the Presidential Office hoped prosecutors would find out whether Chen Che-nan had engaged in insider trading.
When Sun asked Ma whether there will be another Chen Che-nan at the Presidential Office, Ma said that he hoped not and emphasized that both the president and Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun have apologized for poor supervision of Chen Che-nan.
They have also asked the office's ethics department and supervisors to be vigilant regarding any irregular activities by officials, he said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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