The Ministry of Justice yesterday said it would begin an investigation into allegations that a top prosecutor illegally benefited from purchasing real estate at a discount price.
Local media reports yesterday alleged that Department of Prosecution Director Chen Wen-chi (陳文琪) and her husband purchased a Yuanta Construction Development (元大建設) apartment in Xinyi District at a 40 percent discount.
The reports said that when Supreme Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigation Panel prosecutors raided the property in connection with a structured notes scandal last year, prosecutors noted that Chen’s husband was a corporate lawyer at the company and decided not to search the premises.
The purchase of the flat, which has an estimated value of NT$100 million (US$3 million), has caused suspicion and it is alleged that the couple made under-the-table dealings to save more than NT$30 million on the deal.
In response, Deputy Minister of Justice Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) said yesterday that the ministry had put together a task force to probe the matter and had already asked the couple to provide asset declarations to assist the task force in its investigations.
Huang said that after reviewing the couple’s asset declarations he believed the couple had enough financial backing to purchase such a property.
He declined to reveal how much the couple paid for the property, saying he was protecting the couple’s privacy.
The task force has yet to determine whether the couple received discounts because of a special employee discount offer, he said.
“To conduct a fair investigation, the ministry has given Chen some time off,” he said.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
RSS