Taipei District Prosecutors yesterday added more charges against detained former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), alleging the former president instructed his former aides to lie about the reimbursement processes for the presidential “state affairs fund.”
Prosecutors allege that in 2006, when he was still in office, Chen called a meeting at the Presidential Office with former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) and former Presidential Office director Lin Teh-hsun (林德訓) to instruct them to lie about inappropriate receipts that were used in reimbursements for the fund.
Although Ma and Lin allegedly complied with Chen’s request, prosecutors did not charge Ma because the false testimony was not given when Ma was questioned as a witness.
PHOTO: CNA
Additional perjury cases were opened last September.
Ma and Lin were convicted of helping the former first family launder money in the first round of legal proceedings at the Taipei District Court last year. They were sentenced to 16 years and 20 years in prison respectively as well as being stripped of their civil rights for eight years and 10 years.
Former Hsinchu Science Park head James Lee (李界木) was also charged with perjury yesterday. Prosecutors allege Lee gave false testimony regarding the government’s purchase of a plot of land in Longtan (龍潭), Taoyuan County.
In related news, former Yuanta Financial Holding Co president Victor Ma (馬維建) and former Yuanta Securities Corp board member Tu Li-ping (杜麗萍) yesterday pleaded guilty in court to helping the former first family launder money.
The two said they hoped that by pleading guilty, they would be able to enter plea-bargaining to receive lighter sentences.
Another defendant who was summoned to court, Cathay Financial Holdings Co vice chairman Tsai Chen-yu (蔡鎮宇), yesterday angrily accused prosecutors of ruining his reputation with false charges.
Tsai defended himself by saying the money he gave to the former first family was not a bribe, but a political donation, because his father Tsai Wan-lin (蔡萬霖) had been a long-time supporter of the Democratic Progressive Party.
Tsai said he was following his father’s instructions and denied allegations that prior to the merger of Cathay Financial Holdings and Cathay United Bank, the Tsai family bribed the former president into pressuring the Ministry of Finance to approve the merger.
The indictment of high-profile businesspeople and members of the former first family were issued on Dec. 24 when Chen and his wife were accused of taking bribes from executives of banks and financial holding companies who sought to “protect” themselves and their businesses from being adversely affected during the second phase of financial reform.
One of the financial consolidation cases involved Yuanta Financial Holding’s merger with Fuhwa Financial Holding Co, the nation’s 11th-largest financial group by assets in April 2007.
Prosecutors allege that Chen and his wife took NT$600 million (US$19 million) from Cathay Financial Group and more than NT$200 million from Yuanta Securities as a “payment” for ensuring the financial groups’ mergers and acquisitions of smaller financial institutions went smoothly.
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
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