Prosecutors said yesterday they would summon former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) son Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) for questioning about his suspected role in the embezzlement and money-laundering scandal involving Chen Shui-bian.
Chen Shui-bian has said he believed prosecutors would summon Chen Chih-chung and his daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚) for questioning very quickly and then apply to the Taipei District Court to detain the couple.
He said prosecutors would then attempt to detain him following the couple, adding he and his family members were facing political persecution.
Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南), spokesman for the Special Investigation Panel of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, said yesterday that he hoped the public would suspend criticism of the prosecutors before their entire case is made.
But Chen Yun-nan said that prosecutors would interview Chen Chih-chung and Huang Jui-ching soon.
After having testimonies from suspects and witnesses in the case, prosecutors were learning whether or not Chen Chih-chung and Huang Jui-ching knew the details involved in opening bank accounts overseas and joined the alleged money laundering, the spokesman said.
The Taipei District Court has detained five suspects in the case — Wu Ching-mao (吳景茂), the brother of former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), a close aide of Chen Shui-bian, Lin Teh-hsun (林德訓), who was the director of Chen’s office from 2005 to early this year, Chen Chen-hui (陳鎮慧), the former cashier of the Presidential Office under Chen Shui-bian, and Tsai Ming-che (蔡銘哲), the brother of Tsai Mei-li (蔡美利), a college classmate of Wu Shu-jen.
Chen Shui-bian, Wu Shu-jen, Chen Chih-chung and Huang Jui-ching, and Tsai Ming-chieh (蔡銘杰), another brother of Tsai Mei-li have been barred from leaving the country.
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
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
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,
RSS