Print

Mail

wiki links

Chen visited tarot reader, but never had a reading: staff

“The whole thing was just a scheme to extort money from the former president.”

— statement from Chen Shui-bian’s office

Former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) office said yesterday that Chen knew a teenage self-proclaimed tarot card reader, but denied the teen had ever read cards for Chen.

Describing the incident as a “fraudulent scam,” Chen’s office issued a statement saying that a man claiming to be Mr. Huang called the office in the middle of last month and declared a friend of Chen had asked him to “express concern” about the former leader, who is embroiled in allegations of money laundering.

The caller said it was “inconvenient” for Chen’s friend to make direct contact at that time but the friend had asked him to hold a religious ritual for Chen to ward off bad spirits and ask for a blessing, the statement said.

Chen went to Huang’s studio, where he saw three Buddhist monks chanting sutras and performing rituals; he stayed about an hour and left, his office said.

Huang never read tarot cards for Chen or draw the “death” card during a tarot-reading session as some media reports have claimed, the office said.

These reports were “pure fabrication,” the statement said.

However, Huang called the office several times, once asking for a donation to help his master build a temple overseas, the office said. That request made staffers suspicious, so they telephoned Chen’s friend to inquire about Huang and the friend said he had not asked Huang to hold a religious ceremony for Chen, the statement said.

“The whole thing was just a scheme to extort money from the former president,” the office said.

There have been several reports this week about 16-year-old Huang Chao-kang (黃照岡) or “Huang Chih” (黃琪) had been scamming people by pretending to be a UK-trained fortune teller, including Chen.
This story has been viewed 1269 times.