Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) said yesterday that some funds in President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) allegedly "secret" bank account were deposited by his children, which he said cast doubt on the Presidential Office's explanation that the account was used for political contributions.
Presidential Office Spokesman David Lee (李南陽) on Saturday denied Chiu's allegation that Chen had a bank account with Taishin International Bank which he had never declared in his property disclosure, and had transferred abroad about NT$169 million (US$5.15 million).
According to Lee, the account was opened to receive campaign donations from Chen's supporters ahead of the 2004 presidential election and was closed soon after the election was over.
But Chiu said yesterday that the Presidential Office had fabricated that excuse to hide Chen's wrongdoing. He said that the account couldn't possibly have been for campaign donations because four deposits were made in the name of the president's daughter Chen Hsing-yu (
"It's unusual that the president's children would contribute to him," Chiu said.
Chiu failed to provide details of the four deposits from the president's children, saying that he didn't note down the information from his "Deep Throats" when he met with them.
But Chiu said that one of the deposits from Chen Hsing-yu, NT$2 million, was the same amount that Chen Cheng-hwei (陳鎮慧), a treasurer at the Presidential Office, moved to Chen Hsing-yu's account from an account held by her husband Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘).
Given that Chao has been charged in connection with an insider-trading scandal, Chiu said that he suspected that the president may be implicated in Chao's alleged crimes.
In response to Chiu's latest volley, Presidential Office Secretary-General Mark Chen (
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