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.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
RSS