Prosecutors yesterday questioned former China Development Financial Holding Corp president Angelo Koo (辜仲瑩) over allegations that he helped former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his family launder and hide money.
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Panel (SIP) is maintaining a tight schedule for the questioning of witnesses and defendants in efforts to conclude its investigations into the Chen family. The panel yesterday questioned Koo on money transfers he allegedly helped make for members of the former first family.
Koo and China Development Financial chief financial officer Sherie Chiu (邱德馨), both of whom have been named as defendants in the money-laundering investigation, are suspected of helping former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) transfer US$600,000 and NT$34 million (US$1 million) from a Taiwanese account in the name of Wu’s elder brother Wu Ching-mao (吳景茂) to the family’s accounts in Singapore and the Netherlands between 2003 and 2005.
In 2004, Wu Shu-jen allegedly gave Koo US$1 million and asked him to transfer the money to foreign accounts in the names of Wu Ching-mao and her son, Chen Chih-chung’s (陳致中), prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said several businesspeople involved in the case might not be charged with bribery because of the difficulty of gathering evidence. However, these individuals are less likely to avoid money-laundering charges because prosecutors have amassed a wealth of evidence including bank transfer records.
Prosecutors listed other defendants who may be facing indictments soon, including Wu Shu-jen, Wu Ching-mao and his wife, Chen Chun-ying (陳俊英), former China Steel Corp chairman Lin Wen-yuan (林文淵), Yuanta Financial Holding Co president Victor Ma (馬維建), former Yuanta Securities Corp board member Tu Li-ping (杜麗萍) and chairwoman Judy Tu (杜麗莊), as well as Chen Shui-bian’s son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), and daughter-in-law, Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚).
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