Chien Lin Hui-chun (錢林慧君), a member of the Control Yuan and a former Taiwan Solidarity Union legislator, yesterday suggested amending laws to prohibit civil servants, such as former chief of the Investigation Bureau Yeh Sheng-mao (葉盛茂), from receiving retirement funds.
Yeh was indicted on Thursday for withholding information about former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) alleged involvement in money laundering. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said prosecutors were seeking a jail term of two-and-a-half years for Yeh — harsher than usual because the defendant was a government official, it said.
Chien Lin was assigned by the Control Yuan to work with Heng Teh-hsuan (洪德旋), another Control Yuan member, to investigate the allegations against Yeh.
Saying that they were close to completing their probe, she added that it was highly possible the Control Yuan would impeach Yeh.
Even after an impeachment, Yeh could still receive his retirement fund, and Chien Lin said the Law on Discipline of Civil Servants (公務員懲戒法) and Civil Servants Retirement Act (公務人員退休法) should be revised to stipulate that civil servants found to be involved in irregularities should be deprived of retirement funds.
Yeh stepped down from his post as chief of the Investigation Bureau on July 16. Unless the court finds Yeh guilty and strips him of his civil rights, he would still receive his retirement fund.
POSSIBLE ROLE
In related news, Chen Chun-ying (陳俊英), a sister-in-law of Chen Shui-bian’s wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), was subpoenaed again yesterday for questioning over her possible role in a suspected overseas money laundering case involving the former first family.
The Special Investigation Division under the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said Chen Chun-ying was summoned again as a witness because prosecutors want a better understanding of how and when Wu remitted funds to ABN AMRO Bank and Standard Bank of South Africa branches in Singapore.
Chen Chun-ying and her husband, Wu Ching-mao (吳景茂), the elder brother of the former first lady, were summoned for questioning on Aug. 18, but Chen Chun-ying appeared to faint during questioning and was rushed to the nearby National Taiwan University Hospital for treatment.
Prosecutors then subpoenaed her again yesterday for further questioning.
Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Division also summoned other friends and relatives of Wu Shu-jen to find out whether they were also used by the former first lady to facilitate money laundering via overseas bank accounts.
The former first couple and their son Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚) and Wu Ching-mao were listed as suspects in the case last week and have been banned from leaving the country.
SURPLUS FUNDS
During questioning by prosecutors last Friday, the former first lady argued that the US$21 million in overseas bank accounts under the name of her elder brother and daughter-in-law were surplus funds from political contributions.
During questioning on Monday, Huang Jui-ching said she was used by her mother-in-law to open overseas bank accounts to facilitate cash deposits.
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