Prosecutors in charge of probing former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) alleged money laundering activities said yesterday they did not have enough evidence to prove that funds that flowed into a Palauan bank account were connected to the former president.
On Monday, Palauan President Johnson Toribiong was reported to have said in a TV interview in Palau that in 2005, an unidentified wire of US$41 million was routed through Palau’s Pacific Savings Bank to the US and other countries. The bank later collapsed and Palauan authorities are investigating the matter, he said.
“I do not know where the money came from and where it went to. We have asked for judicial assistance from Taiwan,” Toribiong was quoted as saying.
The Supreme Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Investigation Panel’s (SIP) probe into the money flow and overseas assets of Chen and his family members has not produced any evidence that indicated the family wired money to or from Palau, prosecutors said.
The SIP also said it had not received a request for assistance from Palau.
Chen’s office denied allegations on Tuesday that Chen had taken advantage of trips abroad to transport cash. A statement said Chen never used the presidential plane to transport money abroad.
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