Grand justices are wealthy -- and getting wealthier

A number of Taiwan's grand justices are billionaires, while several others have seen their family assets increase substantially over the past year, according to disclosure reports filed with the Control Yuan, the nation's top watchdog body.

The Control Yuan report shows that all grand justices have filed their assets disclosure reports for last year, with most doing well.

The report shows that Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生), who concurrently serves as a grand justice, ranks among the three wealthiest grand justices in terms of family assets. Weng's bank deposits increased NT$3.28 million (US$99,000) to reach NT$19.25 million at the end of last year.

He was one of the senior government officials who came under fire last year over alleged misuse of special allowance funds set aside for discretionary use. The asset disclosure report shows that Weng continued to deposit his special allowance fund into his bank account last year.

Over last year, Weng's state bond holdings decreased by more than NT$10 million, while his real estate holdings remained unchanged.

According to the report, Grand Justice Tseng You-tien (曾有田) has four houses and two plots of land in metropolitan Taipei in 2005. His real estate holdings increased significantly last year, when he secured five plots of land in Hsinchu County's Chupei City, where land prices have skyrocketed in recent years thanks to industrial development and the opening of high-speed rail services.

Grand Justice Hsu Pi-hu (徐璧湖) also reported an enormous increase in family assets last year. In the 2005 report, Hsu had just NT$738,544 in bank deposits plus NT$102,181 in securities holdings. Last year, his bank deposit swelled to NT$5.67 million and his securities holdings also zoomed to NT$5.36 million.

Grand Justice Lai Ying-jaw (賴英照) posted a nearly NT$8 million increase in his bank deposits last year, with the amount reaching NT$58.07 million at the end of the year. He didn't have any securities or real estate holdings.

Meanwhile, Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) is also a wealthy man, possessing a house and two plots of land in the US in addition to nearly NT$40 million in bank deposits and securities holdings.

Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) has more than NT$13.65 million in bank deposits, marking an increase of NT$4 million from his 2005 deposits. In line with a demand by Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Chen has placed part of his stock holdings into trust.