Ligi Lee (李慧芬), a key figure in the embezzlement allegations surrounding the first family, is not sure whether receipts she gave to her cousin Lee Bi-chun (李碧君) were passed on to first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), prosecutors said yesterday.
Lee on Monday gave prosecutors copies of a number of receipts which she said had been given to her cousin and the first lady to be used to seek reimbursements from the Presidential Office secret slush fund.
"Ligi Lee told prosecutors that her cousin Lee Bi-chun had told her that the receipts would be submitted to Wu for reimbursement, but she was not sure whether those receipts were in fact given to Wu," Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office spokesman Chang Wen-cheng (張文政) told reporters yesterday.
Her statements add up to no more than hearsay and are not direct evidence, Chang said, adding that prosecutors would continue their search for evidence.
Ligi Lee left the Black Gold Investigation Center of the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office yesterday morning after being questioned for 15 hours.
During the questioning, prosecutors asked her to confirm that she had made the purchases for which the receipt had been handed to her cousin, Chang said.
Although prosecutors had asked the Australia-based fashion designer not to hold a press conference to avoid revealing sensitive investigation information to the media, Ligi Lee nonetheless held a press conference at her hotel in Taipei yesterday.
"After talking to prosecutors, I came to believe that they are taking the case very seriously. The evidence they have gathered is ahead of my contribution," she told the press conference.
"I did not come back to Taiwan to oppose President Chen Shui-bian (
She said she gave prosecutors copies of a number of receipts from the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Taipei, Sogo Department Store and other businesses amounting to more than NT$7 million (US$214,700).
Lee arrived in Taipei from Australia on Sunday night and plans to stay about one week.
Wu has been accused of pocketing cash from a Presidential Office slush fund by turning in receipts given to her by Lee Bi-chun.
Lee Bi-chun has been banned from leaving the country.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all