Bureau of Investigation (BOI) Director-General Wu Ying (吳瑛) yesterday explained to judges how special agents handle tip-offs and documents they receive during testimony in the case of former bureau director-general Yeh Sheng-mao (葉盛茂), who is accused of illegally withholding documents related to the former first family’s alleged-money laundering.
The case was originally heard behind closed doors in September because documents that Yeh had allegedly leaked to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) were marked “extremely confidential.” After two hearings, however, judges ruled that the documents should not have been classified and that special agents Chou You-yi (周有義) and Tso Chiu-chiang (鄒求強) had marked the documents incorrectly.
The judges suspect that Chou and Tso might have been trying to help Yeh, so they summoned Wu to explain the classification process yesterday morning.
“I believe that Chou and Tso could have made a mistake like this because they were not familiar with the definition and the process of handling such documents,” Wu told the judges.
Wu also told judges that he had never received nor had access to the information from the Egmont Group — an international gathering of financial intelligence units designed to tackle money laundering — concerning the alleged money laundering of the former first family when he was a deputy director-general under Yeh.
Wu said that the case had seriously damaged the bureau’s credibility.
The judges also summoned former first lady Wu Shu-jen’s (吳淑珍) brother Wu Ching-mao (吳景茂), who testified that he had allowed his sister to use bank accounts in his name without asking since 1998, “because she is part of the family.”
“She is my sister so I did not think to ask why she wanted to use my accounts,” he said.
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