Investigations into alleged misuse of discretionary special allowance funds by several prominent figures in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have formally begun, prosecutorial sources said yesterday.
The special investigation panel under the Supreme Prosecutors Office formally assigned the cases to two teams of prosecutors on Saturday for intensive probes, the sources said.
According to sources, the case involving Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng's (
Only last month Chu determined that charges should not be brought against Tainan Mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) in a similar case.
Meanwhile, the cases involving the four DPP aspirants for the next presidency -- Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun and former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) -- were all assigned to three other prosecutors -- Hou Kuan-jen (侯寬仁), Shen Ming-lun (沈明倫) and Chou Shih-yu (周士榆).
Hou's team will also handle a similar case involving another DPP bigwig -- National Security Council Secretary-General Mark Chen (
Hou was the key figure behind the indictment of former Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
The indictment forced Ma to resign as chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Ma has denied any wrongdoing.
Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南), a spokesman for the special investigation panel, said probes into six prominent politicians' special affairs funds would get underway simultaneously.
The three prosecutors of each team will work together while receiving support and assistance, if necessary, from the special investigation panel. As a result, Chen Yun-nan said, investigations would proceed faster than before.
In fact, he said, the now-defunct Anti-Corruption Center under the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office, had already done some of the ground work with regards to the special fund misuse allegations against the six politicians.
Subsequent probes by the two new teams of prosecutors will shift into high gear after chief prosecutors from around the country meet later this month to flesh out a coherent set of guidelines for tackling all similar "special affairs funds" misuse cases, thereby avoiding inconsistencies and confusion, he said.
All the special affairs funds misuse probes arose following the high-profile probe involving President Chen Shui-bian (
Wu was indicted last November on charges of misappropriating money from a secret government fund set aside for diplomatic missions or initiatives. Wu has pleaded innocent.
Probes of both Wu and Ma were initiated by political opponents who publicized evidence of alleged wrongdoing.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS